18 August 2018 FT — Articles to Read

18 August 2018

 

Question: According to MSN:Money, what are 15 hidden fees to watch out for in retirement?

 

Scrap quarterly reports, says Trump – Pg. 1

–          President Donald Trump has asked the SEC to consider scrapping the demand that public companies in the US report their earnings every three months, weighing in on a practice many blame for corporate short-termism

–          Critics of the quarterly system have argued that the longstanding tradition is costly, distracts companies from focusing on longer-term goals, and may deter companies from going public

–          Its defenders say it improves transparency and argue that longer intervals between financial disclosures create more incentive for insider trading (Prof Note: The short the periods, the more seasonality investors can understand.  In my opinion, critical to investing, especially when layering macro-economic trends atop)

–          US companies are not obliged to provide such forecasts but most do, running the risk of being punished by investors if they miss their targets

 

US grocers scramble for position in ecommerce battleground – Pg. 8

–          Does the future of grocery shopping depend on diverless cars, meal kits or automated warehouses….Kroger, one of America’s largest grocers, is betting on all of the above

–          Walmart is rolling out same-day delivery across the US and testing robots to assemble “click and collect” orders, where shoppers order items online and pick them up at stores

–          The escalating competition was underscored by Amazon’s announcement this month that subscribers to its Prime service in two small cities could order groceries from While Foods via a mobile app for roadside pick-up 30 minutes later

–          The proliferation of options is allowing customers to spend less time in stores and divide their shopping among multiple retailers, making it hard for any one company to corner the market,…

–          While online food shopping has become even more common across Europe and Asia, Americans have remained stubbornly loyal to physical grocery stores.  Online sales accounted for about 2% of the $800bn in US grocery market last year, compared with more than 5% in France, more than 7% in the UK and nearly 17% in South Korea…

 

Global markets shrink as buybacks surge – Pg. 11

–          The global equity market is shrinking at the fastest pace in at least two decades, as a wave of corporate share buybacks swamps the overall volume of companies going public, issuing new stock or selling convertible debt

–          US companies have been particularly hyperactive buyers of their own stock, thanks to the earnings boost delivered by tax cuts and the robust economy

–          …recasts that the overall volume of US buybacks will reach a record-breaking $1tn in 2018

–          The overall value of the global equity market is still increasing, thanks largely to rising stock prices – something that is partly attributable to buybacks.  The total market capitalization of the FTSE All-World index has climbed from about $35tn a decade ago to $57tn on Wednesday

 

Subprime mortgages: say a little prayer – Pg. 16

–          The non-QM [Qualified Mortgage] segment is still a tiny fraction of America’s $1.7tn mortgage market – a total of some $12bn in origination this year

 

Answer: (1) Advisory fees; (2) 401(k) Ratios; (3) 12b-1 fees; (4) Annuity Fees; (5) Yearly fees; (6) Loads (Prof Note: Front- and Back-end fees); (7) Taxes; (8) Retirement Plan Early-Withdrawal Penalties; (9) Trading Fees; (10) Penalties for failing to take required distributions; (11) Annuity Rollover fees; (12) Surrender Fees; (13) Inactivity Fees; (14) 401(k) Administrative Fees; (15) Beneficiary Fees