The big news this week was that Charlie Munger passed away at 99. On the economic front, gas prices keep dropping, and the most recent PCE inflation figures came in a bit lower than last month. Read more about economics and investing news, and articles covering financial fraud, higher education, and retirement in this week’s list.

Charlie Munger

• Warren Buffet’s #2 passed away this week.  Here are the obituaries from both the AP and the NYT.
• Also included here is a collection of reactions about his death from other business leaders. (Reuters)

Economics

• CNBC provides the breakdown of the PCE inflation release. The month-over-month increase was 0.2%, and 3.5% year-over-year, down slightly from the prior month. 
• You may have notices that gas prices have been falling for several weeks. Read about why this is so. Much of it is seasonality. (AP)
• Raphael Bostic of the Atlanta Fed explains how he is making sense of the seemingly mixed signals coming from economic data releases and the anecdotal evidence coming from the businesses that provide input. He explains the distinction between inflation, disinflation, and deflation too.
• Claudia Sahm breaks down available data in her Stay at Home Macro substack and demonstrates that in contrast to current sentiment, most Americans are actually better off financially than they were before the pandemic.
• Is there a power shift underway in the job market back towards employers? Big employers seem to think so. (CNBC)

Investing

• Don’t buy and sell stocks. Buy and hold. (NYT)
• Barry Ritholz explains just how difficult it is to time the market, and why you shouldn’t bother.
• If you can get your cash into a high yield savings account or other vehicle, don’t be in a rush to pay down that 3% mortgage! (CNBC)
•  A CNBC stock market update from Tuesday demonstrates the power of words from Fed officials.  This week is was Governor Chris Waller. 

Financial Fraud

• It is imperative to keep your sensitive data private. Apple’s App Tracking Transparency policy have been shown to protect its mobile customers from financial fraud. Knowledge@Wharton summarizes the paper that investigated this issue. 

Higher Ed

• As seniors finish up their application process, this Visual Capitalist graph ranking top universities in the US is well-timed.

Retirement

• Workers and companies both are reconsidering the balue of defined benefits retirement plans. (NYT)

About the Author

Beth Tallman

Beth Tallman entered the working world armed with an MBA in finance and thoroughly enjoyed her first career working in manufacturing and telecommunications, including a stint overseas. She took advantage of an involuntary separation to try teaching high school math, something she had always dreamed of doing. When fate stepped in once again, Beth jumped on the opportunity to combine her passion for numbers, money, and education to develop curriculum and teach personal finance at Oberlin College. Beth now spends her time writing on personal finance and financial education, conducts student workshops, and develops finance curricula and educational content. She is also the Treasurer of Ohio Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy.