WSJ: Bull Markets Die of Old Age. But Is That Conventional Wisdom Wrong?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Is anxiety over how long this bull market will last overdone? Possibly, according to new research that suggests the life expectancy of bull markets not only doesn’t decline with age—it may actually grow.

“Once a bull market is five years old, its remaining life expectancy doesn’t diminish. If anything, it increases,” financial research firm HCWE & Co. said in a recent report. Read more here.

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Korn Ferry: Wages and Benefits are Rising; So Is CEO Anxiety

By SIMON CONSTABLE

It’s seemingly great news, American wages and benefit levels are growing at their fastest levels in years. But while U.S. workers are cheering, the speed of the growth is forcing some leaders into facing some difficult questions about the employment costs. 

New government data showed that the costs of U.S. salaries and benefits surged in first three months of 2018. Wages grew at an annualized 2.7% clip in the first three months of 2018, the fastest increase since the Great Recession. Meanwhile, benefits costs jumped at 2.6% annualized pace, the quickest since 2015. But many executives remember that it was not even a decade ago that they were doing everything to make sure their company survived following the financial crisis, says Bob Wesselkamper, global leader rewards and benefits solutions for Korn Ferry. “They are still acutely aware that raising your cost base isn’t wise,” he says. Read more here.

Photo by Uday Mittal on Unsplash

PJ Media: ObamaCare Could be Driving People to Drink, Study Finds

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Do you want a case of vodka with your ObamaCare this year? Or perhaps a barrel of brandy?

More people do than used to be the case, and it ain’t pretty.

Only a few years into the Obama’s signature healthcare law, also known as the Affordable Care Act, and more Americans have taken to the bottle, according to new research. Read more here.

Photo by Giovanna Gomes on Unsplash

Korn Ferry: The To-Do List of London’s Newest Finance Leader

It has been an attention-grabbing scenario at one of the world's most visible financial institutions. Now the London Stock Exchange is getting a new leader who will face a host of challenges. 

Experts say industry disruptions like the ones facing David Schwimmer, the 49-year-old Goldman Sachs alumnus and soon-to-be CEO, are never easy, and will only become harder given the broader competition financial exchanges are facing across the globe. Indeed, few exchanges today have a lock on business the way they once did, and in the UK, the shadow of Brexit is never very far away from any financial institution. Read more here.

Korn Ferry: Your Next Corporate Benefit, Yoga Class

It’s been a great year at Company X, and already there are rumors it’s preparing to offer workers a host of new benefits. Will it be more vacations days? Changes in retirement plans? Actually, it might be stress reduction programs.

According to a recent joint study by Korn Ferry and the human resources organization WorldatWork, companies are going all-in to help workers lead healthier—and presumably longer—lives. Two out of three employers offer stress reduction programs that include yoga and massage, a jump from just over half in the year before. Telemedicine is making huge inroads, too: Three-quarters of those companies offer the service, allowing workers to access healthcare professionals by phone. Read more here.

Barron's: How to Play Iran Sanctions and $80 Crude

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Crude-Oil prices are set to jump because—contrary to popular belief—President Donald Trump is likely to reintroduce harsh sanctions on Iran by mid-May. Read more here.

Forbes: Is Economics Going Back To The 1800s? Maybe So

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Some economics thinking seems to have gone backward in time. How far back? At least as far as the nineteenth century.

That's the observation of  Robert Wright, professor of political economy at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He's also an eminent economic historian.

He sees the resurgence of three economic ideas that were more at home in the 1800s than in the twenty-first century. Read more here.

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