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Revaluing Fort Knox’s gold to fund a strategic bitcoin reserve or pay down the national debt is no longer unthinkable.Bettmann Archive Gold is up more than 40% in the past year, from under $2,400 an ounce to over $3,400. Meanwhile, the national debt is approaching $37 trillion. That’s helped revive an idea long dismissed as fringe: revaluing the government’s gold reserves to raise cash. It sounds far-fetched. But a new research note from the Federal Reserve suggests it may not be as out there as it seems. On August 1, the Federal Reserve published a research note called “Official Reserve…

Andrew LernerCourtesy of Oppenheimer Name: Andrew Lerner Firm: Oppenheimer Location: Boca Raton, FL Team Assets (Custodied): $1.6 billion Background: Andrew Lerner grew up in Gainesville, Florida, and began his college tennis career at Jacksonville University before transferring to Florida Atlantic University. He graduated in 2013 with a finance degree and an insurance minor. Together with his college roommate and best friend—now his managing partner—he launched a wealth management group shortly after college. What started as a friendship-driven venture has now grown into an 18-person team managing approximately 600 households. “We don’t have a one-size-fits-all niche,” Andrew says, “because every client’s…

Heavy traders may assume they’ll owe no capital gains tax if their losses and gains even out. But then they stumble across the wash sale rule. At the height of the pandemic born meme stock boom in 2021, the 50-something investor tried his hand as a day-trader, rapidly buying and selling stocks such as AMC Entertainment. In the end, he racked up more than $7 million in gains and just a hair over that in losses, resulting in what he thought was, more or less, a wash, taxwise. But it wasn’t a wash, because of the too-often neglected “wash sale”…

Melaina CanoCourtesy of Merrill Wealth Management Name: Melaina Cano Firm: Merrill Wealth Management Location: Irvine, CA Team Assets (Custodied): $329 million Background: Melaina Cano’s passion for investing was sparked early by her paternal grandfather, a first-generation Mexican American engineer who meticulously tracked his investments and taught her the value of financial literacy. Raised in Orange County, CA, she put herself through college earning a bachelor’s in Finance and Economics while working full-time jobs. After graduating, she began her career at Merrill Lynch as a client associate and advanced through their Advisor Development Program. Today, she leads her own small team…

Stock buyback and Share buybacks is shown using a textgetty Tariffs are back. Consumers are struggling. August is historically the worst month for stocks. You’ve probably seen versions of these headlines recently. The articles appear designed to grab your attention by sounding the alarm, then close with a hand-wringing quote from someone who probably missed the last bull run. But here’s a rule I live by: Follow the trend lines, not the headlines. Because if you look past the fear mongering and focus on the data, you’ll find that the market is humming with strength, and investors should take note.…

Trump rings the opening bell on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on December 12, 2024 after being named TIME’s “Person of the Year.”Spencer Platt/Getty Images The Trump administration is teeing up what could be the biggest shakeup in U.S. housing finance since the 2008 crisis—a pair of IPOs that might value Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at a combined $500 billion. The plan, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal and is still being finalized by the administration, would see the federal government sell between 5% and 15% of each company, potentially raising…

18th April 1930: An outdoor target shooting class. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)Getty Images The jobs number – officially known as “nonfarm payroll employment”– is released monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is said to have a greater impact on financial markets than any other economic indicator, and it is a critical input to the formation of monetary policy at the Federal Reserve. “Trillions of dollars in global assets reprice within moments of a BLS release,” The Economist wrote last week. “It is a puzzle why this month’s revisions were unusually large.” It is also quite flawed. The…

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway acquired a stake worth $1.6 billion in beleaguered insurer UnitedHealth in the second quarter.WireImage It’s a difficult time for value investors to find bargains, with the stock market shrugging off pessimism about tariffs and a weak job market to keep climbing to record highs, but Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway found some solace buying the dip in one of the year’s biggest disappointments for investors. On Thursday afternoon, Berkshire disclosed in an SEC filing that it bought more than 5 million shares of UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter, initiating a stake worth $1.6 billion. The stock…

Close-up of a person’s hand holding an iPhone and using Google AI Mode, an experimental mode utilizing artificial intelligence and large language models to process Google search queries, Lafayette, California, March 24, 2025. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)Gado via Getty Images Google’s stock could rise 325% by 2035 if the company is broken up into five parts. However, the resulting loss of operating synergies could cost Google $67 billion in revenue lift and cost savings. A judge is expected to order Google to take action after the company was found guilty in an antitrust trial, according to the Washington Post.…

A Toll Brothers construction site in California. Toll Brothers is one of several companies that have consistently bought back their own stock. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg© 2025 Bloomberg Finance LP July set a record for companies buying back their own shares. They did it to the tune of $166 billion. Are the companies whose stocks you own buying back their own shares? It’s worth checking. Buybacks aren’t a magic panacea for raising shareholder value, but they often help. When there are fewer shares outstanding, each share is (mathematically, assuming other things stay equal) worth more. In May, I wrote about…