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Israel-Iran Attack Report, Trump Jr. Speaks at QEF

Israel-Iran Attack Report, Trump Jr. Speaks at QEF

Bloomberg21-05-2025

Oil jumped following a CNN report that new US intelligence suggests Israel is preparing for a potential strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. Brent crude rose above $66 a barrel while West Texas Intermediate surged as much as 3.5% before paring gains. It wasn't clear that Israeli leaders have made a final decision on whether to carry out the strikes, CNN said, citing unidentified officials. Oil has been volatile since last week on mixed headlines about the fate of Iran-US nuclear talks, which could pave the way for more barrels to return to a market that's expected to be oversupplied later in the year. An attack by Israel would hinder any progress in those negotiations and add to unrest in the Middle East, which supplies about a third of the world's crude. Today's guest: Valérie Noël, Syz Group Head of Trading (Source: Bloomberg)

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BlackRock, Goldman Scale Up Tax Trades in $3 Trillion SMA Boom
BlackRock, Goldman Scale Up Tax Trades in $3 Trillion SMA Boom

Yahoo

time12 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

BlackRock, Goldman Scale Up Tax Trades in $3 Trillion SMA Boom

(Bloomberg) -- This year's stock market turbulence has punished ordinary investors. But for the wealthy, it's opened up fresh opportunities to convert equity swings into tax breaks — fueling a growing Wall Street business that turns volatility into a financial advantage. Trump Said He Fired the National Portrait Gallery Director. She's Still There. NYC Mayoral Candidates All Agree on Building More Housing. But Where? Senator Calls for Closing Troubled ICE Detention Facility in New Mexico California Pitches Emergency Loans for LA, Local Transit Systems BlackRock Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley are among firms scaling up a strategy known as tax-loss harvesting, typically offered through customized portfolios called separately managed accounts. When markets drop, managers sell stocks trading below their purchase price to realize losses. Those losses offset gains elsewhere in a portfolio, reducing clients' tax liabilities while maintaining overall portfolio exposure. The approach allows investors to shrink their current-year IRS bills while deferring capital gains into the future. In April's selloff, for example, a manager could dump Home Depot Inc. and rotate into Lowe's Cos Inc., maintaining sector exposure while staying inside tax rules. Once a boutique service reserved only for the ultra-rich, investment firms are repackaging market turbulence as a fiscal opportunity, with automated trading programs scanning portfolios daily as equity conditions shift. With fee pressure eroding revenue in traditional asset management, Wall Street is leaning more heavily on tax-optimization trades to differentiate offerings, retain clients and defend margins in a competitive marketplace. 'There is just inherently going to be more volatility in the system,' said Scott Smith, senior director at industry consultant Cerulli Associates. 'With trade policies, tariffs, taxes, everything is on the table. There is no assumption of what the future looks.' 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Regardless, the opportunities are only growing. Direct indexing, where investors hold individual stocks directly rather than through pooled funds, has become the backbone of this tax-optimization machine. With the SMA market expected to grow from $3 trillion to $5 trillion by 2027, firms are layering on increasingly complex techniques to compete, pitched as added-value services. Tax-loss harvesting is only one lever. Advisors also optimize dividend timing, gain deferrals, charitable gifting and jurisdictional overlays in an attempt to juice after-tax portfolio performance. 'Risk management and tax management go hand in hand,' said Monali Vora, global head of wealth investment solutions at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. 'You can't do one without the other.' Aperio's long-short tax-aware strategies, launched in 2023, amplify gross exposure — boosting the number of positions that can generate harvestable losses, while keeping market exposure roughly the same. 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That same month, Parametric also introduced an offering with a $25,000 minimum investment, part of a broader push to open direct-indexing features to smaller accounts and widen the client base for tax-managed SMAs. Quant hedge funds such as AQR Capital Management are also in tax-optimization arena, applying long-short structures aimed at maximizing harvestable losses while managing exposure drift. As competition heats up, Goldman Sachs Asset Management is pushing into new customization features to expand its tax-optimized platform, such as introducing capabilities to migrate equity ETFs into SMA portfolios. The firm has also ramped up its engineering staff to scale automation and global execution as tax-optimized services become increasingly industrialized. While tax-loss harvesting can reduce tax bills, research shows the biggest benefits tend to accrue to wealthier investors with large taxable portfolios and steady capital gains to offset. As such, for investors able to access these platforms, the appeal is simple. 'There is an awareness among investors that it's not what you make, it's what you keep,' said Parametric's Lee. 'Taxes represent a headwind for investors to the extent they have to realize gains in taxable accounts. You can take advantage of volatility when it comes.' --With assistance from Justina Lee and Lu Wang. New Grads Join Worst Entry-Level Job Market in Years The SEC Pinned Its Hack on a Few Hapless Day Traders. The Full Story Is Far More Troubling What America's Pizza Economy Is Telling Us About the Real One Cavs Owner Dan Gilbert Wants to Donate His Billions—and Walk Again American Mid: Hampton Inn's Good-Enough Formula for World Domination ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway sanction 2 far-right Israeli Cabinet ministers

time13 minutes ago

UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway sanction 2 far-right Israeli Cabinet ministers

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CNN correspondent detained by LAPD during live shot
CNN correspondent detained by LAPD during live shot

The Hill

time13 minutes ago

  • The Hill

CNN correspondent detained by LAPD during live shot

A reporter for CNN was briefly detained by police on Monday while covering the widespread protests in Los Angeles following federal immigration enforcement operations in the area over the weekend. CNN cameras caught correspondent Jason Carroll being told by police he needed to leave the area he was reporting from and placing his hands behind his back as he and members of the network's crew were escorted away. 'I asked. 'Am I being arrested?' ' Carroll said of the incident on the network after he was escorted away. 'He said, 'No … you're being detained.' You take a lot of risks as press, this is low on that scale of risks, but it is something I wasn't expecting.' CNN, in a statement to The Hill, said it was 'pleased the situation resolved quickly once the reporting team presented law enforcement with their CNN credentials.' 'CNN will continue to report out the news unfolding in Los Angeles,' the outlet said. The protests in Los Angeles have sparked intense reaction from the White House, with President Trump mobilizing hundreds of Marines and thousands of National Guard troops, a move that has sparked criticism from Democrats and the state's governor.

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