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DID YOU KNOW? Is the music world driving inflation higher? Ticket seller Live Nation reported astonishing numbers: 4th quarter revenues were up about 60%, well north of the $3.6 billion expected. Full-year revenues were up 44%. Attendance in 2022 was up 24%. Upwards of 121 million fans went to 43,600 events. Ticket sales so far in 2023 are over 50 million, up 20%.
DID YOU KNOW? At the end of 2022, a billion-dollar-plus lottery was won in California.....and this week the head of Blackstone was revealed as having earned just shy of $1.3 billion in 2022. Both will be taxed very differently. Hopefully both buy lots of real estate!
DID YOU KNOW? The inflation rate in rapidly growing US states is often much higher than national averages. Inflation is mostly about an imbalance between supply and demand. One of the biggest drivers of inflation is the cost of shelter. Here are the cities where inflation is rising the most by WalletHub.
DID YOU KNOW? Big US Cities contribute massive percentages to overall US GDP: New York contributes 9.7%, Los Angeles 6%, San Francisco 5.5%, Washington DC/Baltimore/Maryland 3.8%, Chicago 3.3%, Boston 3.2%, Dallas 2.7%, Houston and Philadelphia 2.4% each. Seattle and Austin 2.3% each, and Atlanta 2.2%. Combined, these 12 large metroplexes house about 117 million people - or about 35% of the US population - and deliver about 45.8% of the US' GDP. (Kenan Institute)
DID YOU KNOW? In less than one month the price of lumber dropped over 27%....down over 75% off its 2021 high.......lumber is a good indicator of builder demand…..
DID YOU KNOW? With rising home valuations and massive growth, building and labor costs rise too.....as does replacement cost, a big factor in the insurance world. John Rollins - Director of Ventures, EIG Holdings, a diversified claims, technology and restoration company serving several Florida insurers - said in the past 4 years, policy rates have gone up 50% for Floridians, and the the industry, as well as various state officials, are expecting reinsurance costs to go up between 40% to 50% or more in June. (WFLW.com)
DID YOU KNOW? Many people lost money in 2022 as equity markets re-balanced, yet some people made absolute fortunes: That is always the case in down markets. Some - especially hedge funds - identify opportunity: $1 million invested in Citadel's Wellington Fund at inception in 1990 would be worth $328 million today, compared with $23 million if it were invested in the S&P 500 Index. Citadel’s fixed income, tactical trading and equities funds all generated returns better than 21% as well in 2022. $7 billion was distributed to investors at the end of 2022.....and most of that money is on standby waiting to be deployed into the economy as more buying opportunities emerge. The TOP 20 hedge funds have gained nearly $1 TRILLION since inception. As the name implies, some *hedge* funds look for safer bets, rather than higher risk. The key is to obtain a much more stable return, so that the risk to reward ratio is actually better. However, some believe they participate in manipulating markets artificially fueling valuations up and down via highly complex and sophisticated algorithms..... While capital gains are taxed much lower than regular income (20% at the Federal level) much of these gains are spent on other things and taxed locally via sales taxes. Hedge funder Ken Griffin moved from Chicago to Miami to save on local state taxes, but has brought close to $1 billion worth of personal real estate in the past few years, each one paying lots of real estate taxes annually, so..... 🤔
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