| Products, Deals and People | Franklin Templeton Investments has enhanced its Social Security Optimizer tool with Benefit Delay and Benefit Replacement calculators. These tools gauge and display the amount of income from assets needed to delay benefits past full retirement age, as well as assets needed to replace income lost after the passing of a spouse.Read more > | Retirement Industry People Moves | Northern Trust expands Institutional Client Service; JPMAM expands DC Real Estate team; Mesirow Financial partners with T. Rowe Price on fiduciary services; and more.Read more > | Tim Buckley to Succeed Bill McNabb as Vanguard CEO | Vanguard Chief Investment Officer Tim Buckley has climbed the ranks to president and director of the firm. Vanguard also revealed plans for Buckley to succeed Bill McNabb as chief executive officer on January 1, 2018. McNabb will remain as chairman of the Board as Buckley becomes Vanguard’s fourth CEO since its founding in 1975.Read more > | | Economic Events | The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for May, adjusted for seasonal and trading-day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,350.2 billion, down 0.2% from April, but up 5.1% from May 2016, the Census Bureau announced.
Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for June, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $473.5 billion, a decrease of 0.2% from the previous month, and 2.8% above June 2016. Total sales for the April through June period were up 3.8% from the same period a year ago. The April to May percent change was revised from down 0.3% to down 0.1%.
In June, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was unchanged seasonally adjusted; rising 1.6% over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1% in June; up 1.7% over the year.
Real average hourly earnings increased 0.2% in June, seasonally adjusted. Average hourly earnings increased 0.2%, and CPI-U was unchanged. Real average weekly earnings increased 0.5% over the month.
THE ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: Wednesday, the Census Bureau will report about housing starts for June. Thursday, the Labor Department will issue its initial claims report. | | Market Mirror | Friday, the Dow gained 84.65 points (0.39%) to finish at 21,637.74, the NASDAQ closed 38.03 points (0.61%) higher at 6,312.47, and the S&P 500 increased 11.44 points (0.47%) to 2,459.27. The Russell 2000 was up 3.15 points (0.22%) at 1,428.81, and the Wilshire 5000 climbed 112.94 points (0.44%) to 25,569.93.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note was up 5/32, decreasing its yield to 2.328%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond was down 1/32, increasing its yield to 2.917%.
WEEK’S WORTH: For the week ending July 14, the Dow increased 1.04%, the NASDAQ climbed 2.59%, and the S&P 500 gained 1.41%. The Russell 2000 was up 0.92%, and the Wilshire finished 1.39% higher. | | From the Magazine | The Flaws in a New Standard | By taking a close and critical—even contrarian—look at the subject of “using retirement readiness as a plan performance benchmark,” one may conclude that the bulk of retirement readiness metrics employed today by defined contribution (DC) retirement plan sponsors have limitations. Retirement readiness cannot be expressed as a simple score or a single metric.Read more > | | Small Talk | ON THIS DATE: In 1821, Spain ceded Florida to the U.S. In 1862, national cemeteries were authorized by the U.S. government. In 1867, Harvard School of Dental Medicine was established in Boston, MA. It was the first dental school in the U.S. In 1898, U.S. troops under General William R. Shafter took Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War. In 1941, the longest hitting streak in baseball history ended when the Cleveland Indians pitchers held New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio hitless for the first time in 57 games. In 1945, U.S. President Harry Truman, Soviet leader Josef Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill began meeting at Potsdam in the final Allied summit of World War II. In 1955, Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California. In 1966, Ho Chi Minh ordered a partial mobilization of North Vietnam forces to defend against American air strikes. In 1975, an Apollo spaceship docked with a Soyuz spacecraft in orbit. It was the first link up between the U.S. and Soviet Union. In 1997, after 117 years, the Woolworth Corp. closed its last 400 stores. | SURVEY SAYS RESPONSES: Last week, I asked NewsDash readers, “Have you ever asked an employer for a raise, and if so, how did it turn out?” The majority of responding readers (59%) have asked an employer for a raise, while 41% have not. Of those who asked for a raise, 71.4% said it turned out positively, and 28.6% said it turned out negatively. In verbatim comments, some readers expressed that you have to do your homework and bring along proof of what others in your position are paid as well as proof of your accomplishments to confidently argue your case for a raise. For some readers, they got what they asked for and more, for others, even if they got a raise, it was not up to what they expected. Among those denied a raise, a couple went on to find new jobs. Editor’s Choice goes to the reader who said: “People who really deserve raises should not have to ask for them. Their performance should speak for itself. If budgetary or political reasons are holding back deserved raises, then people need to decide if they are willing to try to move on to other opportunities in order to earn what they feel they deserve.” Thanks to all who participated in the survey!Read more > | Share the news with a friend! Pass the NewsDash along and tell your friend/association they can sign up for their own copy.Read more > |
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