SWC’s Fast Five
The grandkids are playing – the stock market, and in other business news – longer-term office leases are trending, companies take a pledge to shrink the racial wealth gap and a special few don’t pay a single dollar in federal taxes. Distract yourself with the doggie version of ancestry.com.
So, here’s this week’s Fast Five:
1 Hot stock market is cool for Gen Z
Gen X (41-56) led the charge away from active management to buy-and-hold strategies but debt-laden Millennials (25-40) find it hard to accumulate the wealth to make that strategy viable. Gen Z (9-24) downloads apps, pays as little as $1 for fractional buys and embraces the stock market as a place to make short-term gains.
2 Major employers reduce space, get rent concessions but sign longer-term leases
Compared to Q1 2020, companies seek 10 percent less space but sign longer-term deals – nearly half for seven years or more – while landlords offer 13 percent lower long-term lease rates as business tries to forecast remote v. in-office demand.
3 Companies joining NinetyToZero pledge changes to shrink racial wealth gap
So named for the roughly 90 percent wealth gap between white Americans (average $171,000 net worth) and Black Americas (at $17,600). Participating organizations commit to hiring, promoting Black talent and to audit how much they spend with Black-owned businesses and in Black-owned financial institutions.
4 Nike, FedEx among 55 U.S. corporations that paid no 2020 federal taxes
If they had, at the 21 percent rate, they would have paid a combined $8.5 billion. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reported previously that 400 of the Fortune 500 companies paid an average tax rate of 11 percent, half the current rate.
5 In advance of National Pet Day, the latest over-the-top gift – a test for doggie DNA
Really, what’s left after giving Fido personalized treats, custom blankies, portraits in oil, tufted sofa beds, smart collars, seasonal outfits and days at doggie day care?
