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Five KPIs to measure success. By Jackie Meyer The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management Go PRO for members-only access to more Rory Henry. View the full article

Five KPIs to measure success. By Jackie Meyer The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management Go PRO for members-only access to more Rory Henry. View the full article

Share sales part of authorities’ bid to boost lending amid economic slowdownView the full article

The European Commission has leverage over the obstructive Hungarian premier — it should use itView the full article

Economic incentives outweigh politics in the long runView the full article

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Speaking to investors last week, Lennar co-CEO Jon Jaffe said that the spring 2025 selling season for America’s second-largest homebuilder is off to a slower-than-normal start. “We do not see the seasonal pickup typically associated with the beginning of the spring selling season,” Jaffe said. “So we continue to lean into our machine focusing on converting leads and appointments and adjusting incentives as needed to maintain sales pace. These adjustments came in the form of mortgage rate buydowns, price reductions, and closing cost assistance. Last quarter, Lennar spent the equivalent of 13% of home sales on buyer incentives—up from 1.5% in Q2 2022 at the height of the pandemic housing boom. A 13% incentive on a $400,000 home translates to $52,000 worth of incentives. This weaker housing demand environment is causing unsold inventory to tick up. Indeed, since the pandemic housing boom fizzled out, the number of unsold completed new single-family homes in the U.S. has been rising: February 2018: 63,000 February 2019: 75,000 February 2020: 77,000 February 2021: 39,000 February 2022: 31,000 February 2023: 70,000 February 2024: 88,000 February 2025: 119,000 The February figure (119,000 unsold completed new homes) published this week is the highest level since July 2009 (126,000). Let’s take a closer look at the data to better understand what this could mean. To put the number of unsold completed new single-family homes into historic context, we created a new index: ResiClub’s Finished Homes Supply Index. The index is one simple calculation: The number of unsold completed new single-family homes in the U.S. divided by the annualized rate of U.S. single-family housing starts in the U.S. A higher index score indicates a softer national new construction market with greater supply slack, while a lower index score signifies a tighter new construction market with less supply slack. If you look at unsold completed single-family new builds as a share of single-family housing starts (see chart below), it still shows we’ve gained slack; however, it puts us closer to pre-pandemic 2019 levels than the 2008 housing bust. While the U.S. Census Bureau doesn’t give us a greater market-by-market breakdown on these unsold new builds, we have a good idea where they are based on total active inventory homes for sale (including existing homes) that spiked above pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Most of those areas are in the Sun Belt around the Gulf. “Some builders are facing pricing pressure—especially in key Florida and Texas markets, where resale supply is also well above pre-COVID norms,” Dillan Krieg, an analyst at John Burns Research and Consulting, recently wrote on LinkedIn. Big picture: There’s greater slack in the new construction market now than a few years ago, giving buyers some leverage in certain markets to negotiate better deals with homebuilders. View the full article

It can be difficult to assert yourself during a negotiation. You may feel emotional about the process, especially if you are countering a lower offer than you expected or are nervous about being up against a seasoned negotiator. Or perhaps you’re uncomfortable with the idea of selling yourself to a potential employer or partner. Whatever the case may be, your approach to negotiations could be working against you. The best way to make sure you don’t botch a negotiation is to prepare for it in advance, writes Lydia Fenet, a leading charity auctioneer and expert in selling and negotiations. That can involve using friends and family to practice how a negotiation may unfold. “To win a negotiation you need to play out as many different scenarios as possible before you sit down, so you are prepared for any angle,” she adds. When you are preparing for a tricky conversation—whether you’re hammering out a job offer or discussing a potential partnership—here are a few negotiation tips you should keep in mind: What not to say There are a few phrases that Fenet says you should steer clear of during any negotiation, to avoid unintentionally weakening your position. “If you begin a negotiation by asking, ‘Is it okay if I ask for . . . ?’ you have made me the authority, which gives me the upper hand,” she writes. Framing the question this way—or even explicitly asking if the salary figure you have proposed is too high—can indicate a lack of confidence, making it more difficult to negotiate effectively. It’s also important to set a number ahead of time that you won’t go below, so that you’re willing to walk away if the negotiation does not land where you were hoping. “By thinking this through before the negotiation, you should feel confident you won’t give away more than you want or accept less than you should in the heat of negotiation,” Fenet says. Since employers will expect you to drive a hard bargain, you should put a number forward without second-guessing yourself or questioning whether it’s too high. Don’t keep talking Sometimes, less is more when you are navigating a negotiation. You might struggle to sit in silence after sharing your salary requirements if, say, an employer does not immediately respond to your proposal. “If you’re highly agreeable, you like to keep things moving forward,” says leadership coach René Rodriguez. “You may not trip over little details, and you may agree to a lower price. Someone who isn’t as agreeable may stop the negotiation right away and demand a higher pay.” But silence can be a powerful tactic during a negotiation—particularly if you’re the kind of person who tends to overexplain or feels the need to justify your demands. In fact, it’s a strategy that employers may use to gain the upper hand during a negotiation. By holding your ground, however, you can force the person you’re negotiating with to speak first. How to follow up What you do after a successful negotiation is also a key part of getting the outcome you want. After all, as Fenet writes, a negotiation is “not done until the contract is signed.” It’s crucial to close the loop so you make sure that what you discussed is finalized. That said, there are times when you know a negotiation is unlikely to pan out. Maybe there isn’t room in the budget or the partnership just isn’t a good match. Even so, it can be worthwhile to create rapport with the person across the table. “Remember, life is long,” Fenet writes. “People change jobs, and budgets come and go; but if people walk out of a negotiation feeling like they made a connection, they will still be your first call.” View the full article

HSBC’s sacking of bankers without a payout is part of a wider reset of incentivesView the full article

Centre-right premier of Saxony latest to question curbs on Russia over Ukraine invasionView the full article

Law school applications typically spike in times of financial and labor market distress, but a significant recent surge may be more driven by other factors. According to the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC)—which, among other things, administers the law school admissions test (LSAT)—application volume for the 2025 school year is up 20.5% compared to last year. “When we ask test takers and applicants ‘Why are you applying to law school?,’ the primary reason is ‘to make a difference,’” says LSAC’s interim president and CEO Susan Krinsky. As a result, she attributes the latest increase to “the world around us,” explaining “there have been a few very interesting Supreme Court cases, and then we’ve got the political environment.” Krinsky adds that election years often see somewhat higher law school applicant numbers, but such a significant jump is usually only typical in times of severe economic distress, like the 2008 financial crisis or the early pandemic. “We will often see at least a small bump in U.S. presidential election years, but not like this one. This one is unique,” she says, adding that while financial motivations are likely still a significant motivator they now appear to be “secondary.” The increase in law school applications also follows a similar spike in business school applications this year, which experts also believe was more divorced from underlying economic conditions than is typical. Like law school hopefuls, many business school applicants said they wanted the degree to make a greater impact, as well as to achieve greater work-life balance, and to guard themselves against the unpredictable effects of artificial intelligence. Competition is heating up Not only is the number of law school applicants up this year, but LSAC data suggests each is also applying to more programs, suggesting significant competition for limited spots. “The number of people applying is up about 20%. The [number of] applications they’re submitting, however, is up more like 23%,” Krinsky says. “I don’t think law schools are going to enlarge the size of their classes, given that it’s very important to law schools that their students get jobs at the other end, and it’s hard to predict what the market will look like three years from now.” According to The Wall Street Journal, the 166 year-old University of Michigan Law School recently reached a new application volume record, while Creighton University School of Law reported a 25% increase. A spokesperson from Columbia Law School also confirmed to Fast Company that their law school, too, has seen an increase in application volume for its incoming cohort. “Having done this for a long time, most of these increases and decreases are plus or minus 5%—when it’s a big moment, it’s maybe 10%,” says Georgetown Law School dean of admissions Andy Cornblatt. “For it to be up 20% nationally, and 25% at Georgetown, is highly unusual.” Prior to the fall of 2021 Cornblatt says no U.S. law school had surpassed about 12,600 applicants in a single academic year. During the pandemic, applications for Georgetown’s 650-person law school hit a new record of 14,000 applications, and Cornblatt says this year is on pace to match or surpass that figure. “In recessions, applications go up every time. That’s not this,” he says. “If you go back over time, these presidential election years—particularly recently—generate an enormous amount of interest in law and politics and policy and the courts; all of those things become front and center.” Cornblatt adds that some economic uncertainty, looser policies around entrance exam requirements, and the heightened visibility of legal decisions in the social media age are all contributing factors, but none alone would explain such a significant surge. “I tell students the playing field used to be boardrooms—that’s your grandparents’ generation,” he says. “The playing field now is the courtroom, and that’s where this new surge of applicants wants to be, because that’s where the action is.” What an historically competitive year means for applicants The significant and widely unexpected increase in interest has forced law schools like Georgetown to take a somewhat different approach to their admissions process this year, Cornblatt says, with significant implications for applicants. “People who last year would have been admitted are now probably sitting on a waitlist, and people who would have been wait-listed were probably denied,” he explains. “The good news is I am being very conservative with the number of people I’ve admitted, and as a result, I think we will be much more active on the waiting list than we have been in the past.” In other words, being wait-listed in this highly competitive year should be taken as a more encouraging sign than in a typical year. Applicants competing for those limited spots are also encouraged to apply at more schools than they might otherwise, a trend already emerging in the LSAC data. “Part of it is having a really high LSAT score—more competitive than the average of the school,” says Claudia Nelson, the director of operations and client relations at higher education admissions consulting firm Admit Advantage. “If you want to be seen as a competitive applicant you need to also have really excellent materials—personal statements, diversity statements, other addendum—and apply early.” The start of a four-year trend? Though applicants are probably too late to start their application for the 2025 school year, Nelson advises those seeking admissions in future years to get started as soon as essay questions are made public, typically in mid-to-late-summer. After all, if application volume is indeed being driven by political turmoil, Nelson says law school admissions are likely to remain highly competitive in the years ahead. “We’ve seen a lot of applicants report that they want to go into civil rights and human rights—and I want to say that [the repeal of] Roe v. Wade was probably a big wake-up call for people—so it’s about more than just what’s happening in the [labor and financial] markets,” she says. “If all else stays consistent, we’ll probably see an increase throughout this [presidential] administration.” View the full article

Have you ever wanted to sign up for an online service but you didn’t want to provide your real email address as part of the process? There’s a good chance your email address has your actual name in it. Or perhaps you want to avoid the risk of getting spammed. What if you’d rather just sign up privately and have a quick “no more emails please” button? That’s precisely where a reliable email forwarding service can save the day. It empowers you to create a special disguised email address and then use it when signing up with a new app, services, or website. You’ll still get any emails sent to the anonymous email address in your normal email inbox—but the service you sign up with won’t ever see your real address, and you can turn off the incoming emails whenever you like. Most such services require a payment, and they aren’t all trustworthy. But I’ve got a great exception to recommend. Unearth all sorts of fantastic tech treasures with my free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. A useful new discovery in your inbox every Wednesday! Protect your privacy with anonymous email addresses The best email-masking service for casual, everyday purposes is ​SimpleLogin​. It’s owned by Proton—a reputable company with a history of trust around the privacy-focused ProtonMail and ProtonVPN services. ➜ With a free SimpleLogin account, you can create up to 10 disguised email aliases for free. You can then use them wherever you want online to shield your real email address. ⌚ You can get started in about 30 seconds: Go to ​​the SimpleLogin website​​ and sign up for an account. Just provide your real email address (here, at least, lest you be unable to receive any of your fake-address forwarding messages)—then choose a password and click a link sent to your real email account to confirm. Click “Random Alias” on the SimpleLogin dashboard to create your first new random email alias. (There are other options, too—and a nice little tutorial.) Provide that email alias to any website while creating an account instead of your actual, real address. ~ simplelogin.png SimpleLogin makes it easy to create and copy privacy-minded masked addresses. ~ That’s it! You can manage email addresses on the SimpleLogin site—for example, you can click a switch and stop receiving new emails sent to the alias. It’s very helpful for avoiding spam. SimpleLogin is available ​on the web​ as well as through ​an Android app​ and iPhone app​, if you’d rather. The service is free for up to 10 aliases. For ​$36 per year​, you can get unlimited aliases and more features, including the premium version of the Proton Pass password manager. SimpleLogin’s ​privacy policy​ looks great. The service says it never keeps your emails, and it does not log your IP address. Treat yourself to even more tech treasures with my free Cool Tools newsletter—one new off-the-beaten-path gem in your inbox every Wednesday and an instant introduction to an exceptional audio tool to start! View the full article

Military government has lost control of much of country riven by armed conflict and crime View the full article

APG boss says largest part of investment to be within bloc owning to ‘attractive valuations’View the full article

Did everyone get the Microsoft 365 rate-hike notice? The personal plan is going from $70 a year to $100 a year. According to the email, my financial commitment is getting me “secure cloud storage, advanced security for your data and devices, and cutting-edge AI-powered features,” among other goodies. But the real reason I subscribe? Microsoft Word. We’ve all used it and many of us rely on it. But many people even aren’t using all the bells and whistles that come with Word and the larger Microsoft 365 package. So as Microsoft hits us with a price hike to go along with all the other price hikes consumers have been facing in the past year, now might be the perfect time to explore some excellent—and completely free—alternatives. Google Docs [Photo: Google] You probably already have a Google account, which means you already have access to Google Docs. That’s likely the most frictionless switch from Word. And just because Google Docs is free and easy doesn’t mean its a slouch. It’s cloud-based, has excellent collaboration features, plus real-time editing, voice typing, auto-saving, and seamless integration with other Google services. If you’re looking for collaboration, sharing documents with multiple people, and quick document creation that won’t feel vastly different from Word, this is it. LibreOffice Writer [Photo: LibreOffice] If you prefer a desktop application, need advanced formatting options, and want a powerful, feature-filled Word replacement, check out LibreOffice Writer. It’s part of the LibreOffice suite, an open-source alternative to Microsoft Office, so if you’re also looking to replace the desktop versions of Excel, PowerPoint, and the like, you’re covered. Though LibreOffice Writer can feel a bit outdated compared to some modern options and there’s an initial learning curve for those used to Word’s interface, this is a tried-and-true alternative for grizzled word-processing pros. WPS Office Writer [Photo: WPS] If you’re looking for a Word-like experience without the price tag and don’t mind occasional ads, give WPS Office Writer a look. It’s got a similar interface to Microsoft Word, good compatibility with Microsoft Word formats, and nice extras such as free templates, cloud saves, and mobile apps. And though it contains ads in the free version, there’s an affordable $36 per year premium subscription that removes ads and throws in some extra features you may or may not use. Give the free version a fair shake first, though: The ads aren’t super intrusive and the feature list is plenty full for what you get. View the full article

Analysis shows three out of 62 companies have made any coupon repayments since 2021 under restructuring dealsView the full article

A stop in fighting would give Moscow time to re-arm and redeploy troops northView the full article

Marketers want to avoid being seen as boycotting billionaire’s social media platformView the full article

Support often comes too late — after workers have left jobs and when they have little chance of going backView the full article

Shops, restaurants and gyms are popping up in historically poor areas which serve as recruiting pools for Moscow’s armyView the full article

From Turkey to Israel, leaders make the most of a world without US censureView the full article

Opposition leader vows to overturn rule barring $1.8tn fund from holding stakes in defence sector if her party wins electionView the full article

ACHM 2025-HE1 will repay notes using a pro-rata, sequential pay structure that must satisfy an overcollateralization test, and cumulative loss and delinquency triggers. View the full article

As Spring Break kicks off across the U.S., drivers are seeing a modest but expected rise in gas prices, according to AAA. The national average for a gallon of gas has climbed three cents since last Thursday, now sitting at $3.15. Gas prices typically begin their seasonal climb in spring and tend to peak during the summer months. However, despite the recent uptick, the national average remains about 40 cents lower than the same time last year. AAA attributes the lower year-over-year average to weak crude oil prices and subdued gasoline demand. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicates that gasoline demand fell slightly, from 8.81 million barrels per day to 8.64 million barrels per day. Domestic gasoline supply also dipped, decreasing from 240.6 million barrels to 239.1 million barrels. Gasoline production averaged 9.2 million barrels per day last week, showing a decrease in output. Compared to a month ago, today’s national average is three cents higher. On a year-over-year basis, it is 38 cents lower. Oil Market Trends Crude oil prices also saw movement. At the close of trading on Wednesday, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 65 cents to settle at $69.65 per barrel. EIA data showed a 3.3 million barrel decline in U.S. crude oil inventories from the previous week. Total inventories now stand at 433.6 million barrels, which is about 5% below the five-year average for this time of year. EV Charging Rates Remain Stable AAA also reported that the average national rate for public electric vehicle (EV) charging remained steady over the past week, holding at 34 cents per kilowatt hour. Gas Price Extremes by State California continues to lead the nation with the highest average gas price at $4.66 per gallon. It is followed by Hawaii ($4.52), Washington ($4.13), Nevada ($3.77), Oregon ($3.76), Illinois ($3.44), Alaska ($3.40), Arizona ($3.33), Idaho ($3.32), and Pennsylvania ($3.25). Meanwhile, the least expensive gasoline markets are found in Mississippi ($2.68), Oklahoma ($2.72), Louisiana ($2.75), Texas ($2.76), Alabama ($2.77), Tennessee ($2.81), South Carolina ($2.81), Kentucky ($2.82), Kansas ($2.83), and Arkansas ($2.83). Public EV Charging Costs by State Among states, Hawaii tops the list with the highest per kilowatt hour rate for public EV charging at 56 cents. Other expensive states include West Virginia (46 cents), Montana (44 cents), South Carolina (42 cents), Tennessee (42 cents), Idaho (42 cents), Alaska (41 cents), Kentucky (41 cents), New Hampshire (40 cents), and Louisiana (39 cents). The least expensive states for EV charging include Kansas (22 cents), Missouri (25 cents), Nebraska (26 cents), Iowa (26 cents), North Dakota (26 cents), Delaware (27 cents), Michigan (29 cents), Texas (29 cents), Utah (29 cents), and Washington, DC (30 cents). Image: AAA This article, "Gas Prices Rise as Spring Travel Begins" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

As Spring Break kicks off across the U.S., drivers are seeing a modest but expected rise in gas prices, according to AAA. The national average for a gallon of gas has climbed three cents since last Thursday, now sitting at $3.15. Gas prices typically begin their seasonal climb in spring and tend to peak during the summer months. However, despite the recent uptick, the national average remains about 40 cents lower than the same time last year. AAA attributes the lower year-over-year average to weak crude oil prices and subdued gasoline demand. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicates that gasoline demand fell slightly, from 8.81 million barrels per day to 8.64 million barrels per day. Domestic gasoline supply also dipped, decreasing from 240.6 million barrels to 239.1 million barrels. Gasoline production averaged 9.2 million barrels per day last week, showing a decrease in output. Compared to a month ago, today’s national average is three cents higher. On a year-over-year basis, it is 38 cents lower. Oil Market Trends Crude oil prices also saw movement. At the close of trading on Wednesday, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 65 cents to settle at $69.65 per barrel. EIA data showed a 3.3 million barrel decline in U.S. crude oil inventories from the previous week. Total inventories now stand at 433.6 million barrels, which is about 5% below the five-year average for this time of year. EV Charging Rates Remain Stable AAA also reported that the average national rate for public electric vehicle (EV) charging remained steady over the past week, holding at 34 cents per kilowatt hour. Gas Price Extremes by State California continues to lead the nation with the highest average gas price at $4.66 per gallon. It is followed by Hawaii ($4.52), Washington ($4.13), Nevada ($3.77), Oregon ($3.76), Illinois ($3.44), Alaska ($3.40), Arizona ($3.33), Idaho ($3.32), and Pennsylvania ($3.25). Meanwhile, the least expensive gasoline markets are found in Mississippi ($2.68), Oklahoma ($2.72), Louisiana ($2.75), Texas ($2.76), Alabama ($2.77), Tennessee ($2.81), South Carolina ($2.81), Kentucky ($2.82), Kansas ($2.83), and Arkansas ($2.83). Public EV Charging Costs by State Among states, Hawaii tops the list with the highest per kilowatt hour rate for public EV charging at 56 cents. Other expensive states include West Virginia (46 cents), Montana (44 cents), South Carolina (42 cents), Tennessee (42 cents), Idaho (42 cents), Alaska (41 cents), Kentucky (41 cents), New Hampshire (40 cents), and Louisiana (39 cents). The least expensive states for EV charging include Kansas (22 cents), Missouri (25 cents), Nebraska (26 cents), Iowa (26 cents), North Dakota (26 cents), Delaware (27 cents), Michigan (29 cents), Texas (29 cents), Utah (29 cents), and Washington, DC (30 cents). Image: AAA This article, "Gas Prices Rise as Spring Travel Begins" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Transform your SaaS model with an enterprise SEO strategy that focuses on sustainable growth and consumer engagement. The post A Guide To Enterprise SEO Strategy For SaaS Brands appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article