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January 21st, 2022
Insight on Plan Design & Investment Strategy Every Weekday
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Awards
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Plan Sponsor of the Year Award Nominations Close Soon
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Time is running out for you to nominate a plan sponsor to be recognized with our annual Plan Sponsor of the Year awards program. Nominees will be sent an entry form to complete, finalists will be announced at the beginning of March and profiles of finalists will be featured in the April/May PLANSPONSOR print magazine, so deadlines are tight. All entries must be received no later than January 24 at 11:59 p.m. 
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| Economic Events |
In the week ending January 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance was 286,000, an increase of 55,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 231,000, the Labor Department reported. The four-week moving average was 231,000, an increase of 20,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 211,000.
Interest on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.56% for the week ending January 20, up from last week when it averaged 3.45%, according to Freddie Mac. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.77%. Interest on a 15-year FRM averaged 2.79%, up from last week when it averaged 2.62%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.21%.
Existing-home sales declined in December, snapping a streak of three straight months of gains, according to the National Association of Realtors. Each of the four major U.S. regions witnessed sales fall in December from both a month-over-month and a year-over-year basis. Despite the drop, overall sales for 2021 increased 8.5%. Total existing-home sales, completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, dropped 4.6% from November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.18 million in December. From a year-over-year perspective, sales waned 7.1% (6.65 million in December 2020).
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| Market Mirror |
Thursday, the Dow lost 313.26 points (0.89%) to finish at 34,715.39, the Nasdaq closed 186.24 points (1.30%) lower at 14,154.02, and the S&P 500 decreased 50.03 points (1.10%) to 4,482.73. The Russell 2000 was down 38.75 points (1.88%) at 2,024.04, and the Wilshire 5000 fell 530.88 points (1.16%) to 45,142.28.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note increased 27/32, bringing its yield down to 1.813%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond climbed 32/32, decreasing its yield to 2.130%.
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Participants
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Record-Low 401(k) Trading Seen in 2021
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The Alight Solutions 401(k) Index shows net 401(k) trading activity for 2021 was 0.53% of balances, the lowest annual figure measured since tracking began in 1997.
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Products
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Investment Product and Service Launches
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Vanguard to expand ESG lineup; TIAA offers lifetime income for corporate retirement market; and MSCI partners with institutional digital investments provider.
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ON THIS DATE: In 1910, referred to as the “Ellis Island of the West,” Angel Island in California’s San Francisco Bay opened as America’s major port of entry for Asian immigrants. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter granted an unconditional pardon to hundreds of thousands of men who evaded the draft during the Vietnam War. In 1997, Newt Gingrich was fined as the U.S. House of Representatives voted for first time in history to discipline its leader for ethical misconduct. In 2017, on the first full day of Donald Trump’s presidency, hundreds of thousands of people crowded into the U.S. capital for the Women’s March on Washington, a massive protest in the nation’s capital aimed largely at the Trump administration and the threat it represented to reproductive, civil and human rights. In 2020, the first U.S. case of the 2019 novel coronavirus, which causes a disease known as COVID-19, was confirmed in a man from Washington state.
And now it’s time for some FRIDAY FUN!
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This is not the correct way to haul a couch.
Will he ever trust grandpa again?
In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, there’s a different meaning for “frozen food.”
In Jefferson City, Missouri, cellphone users received an alert from the state highway patrol that said: “Authorities in Gotham City, Missouri, were searching for a purple and green 1978 Dodge 3700GT.” But, there is no Gotham City in Missouri, and the car it said authorities were looking for describes the Joker’s car in the 1989 “Batman” movie. Soon after the alert was sent, the highway patrol sent another message to disregard the first. According to the Associated Press, the patrol said that during a test of Missouri’s Blue Alert system, an option was incorrectly selected that mistakenly sent the alert statewide.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
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