Today's Scoop:

Hey friends, it's almost Friday. Here's what you need to know today...

1. Layoffs ticked up last week.

2. Switching jobs paid off last year.

3. Rents in Manhattan keep going up.

S&P 500: 4,081.501Mo: +4% | 1Yr: -9 | 5Yr: +49%

The market drifted lower today without any particularly positive news. Recent financial updates from the world's biggest companies have been mixed.

Layoffs picked up last week but remain low overall. The Labor Department reported initial unemployment claims rose by 13,000 to 196,000 last week, the first increase since mid-December. There have been many mass-layoff headlines, particularly from the tech industry, but they haven't made a tremendous dent in employment so far.

Switching jobs would have boosted your income last year. The Atlanta Fed reported that wages have increased by 7.3% over the past year for those who changed jobs but by only 5.4% for those who stayed put. 

Manhattan rent prices are higher than ever. The median apartment rental price reached a record $4,097 in January, up 15% from a year earlier, according to a report from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel.  

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Bank Business Models

Wall Street bank business models can be opaque and confusing. They mainly earn revenue from lending, managing investments, executing trades, and brokering corporate deals.

The traditional banking business model entails taking deposits, paying some interest to the depositor, then lending that money to someone else at some higher interest rate. Banks profit from the spread between the rate they pay the depositor and what they earn from their loans.

Investment banking isn't actually the investing arm of the bank. Investment banks assist companies with large transactions, earning fees for their advice. In the same way that a real estate broker earns a commission for helping sell your house. Investment banks earn a hefty commission for helping you value and sell your company to other companies or the public (IPO).

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