Blogs

Commonly known as the Beige Book, this report is published eight times per year. Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its District through reports from Bank and Branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts and other sources. The Beige Book summarizes this information by District and sector. An overall summary of the twelve district reports is prepared by a designated Federal Reserve Bank on a rotating basis. Overall Economic Activity Retail sales, including autos, remained mixed; sales of...

Banking partners you can count on to help you achieve growth goals New Mexico’s economy – traditionally supported by federal and state government, such as the national laboratories and state universities —has had another boost from private big tech helping it chug through recent inflationary trends. Amazon has several centers around the Albuquerque metro area and Meta (Facebook) has a data center south of the city in Los Lunas. While the giant tech corporations usually rely on national or multinational banks, Andres Garcia, President and CEO of New Mexico Bank & Trust, a division of HTLF Bank...

Tax season is right around the corner! With a bit of planning before you start filling out tax forms, you can make the process much easier on yourself this year. So, let’s review important insights, as well as the forms and documents you might need to gather to file your tax return ASAP. Filing Your Taxes: What You Need to Get Started Before you begin the filing process, you should first gather the information and documents that the IRS needs to process your tax return. Tax forms often include a lot of technical terms, but basically, you’ll need: Your Social Security Number (SSN) or Tax...

Questioning the authenticity of your new online relationship? Are the stars aligning or is there something more to the story? If you have doubts about your newfound romance, it could be a warning sign of a potential romance scam. Every year, countless Americans become targets of romance scams, where skilled social engineers use various tactics to deceive their victims. The consequences can be devastating. These scams not only cause severe financial and emotional harm but also emphasize the importance of recognizing and understanding the strategies used by these scammers. Romance scams have had...

The potentially transformative capabilities of advanced AI, automation, and robotics technology are ushering in a new era for manufacturing. Yet, at the same time, extracting value from the digital transformation is more complicated than it might seem. Case in point—an overwhelming 88% of companies report difficulties measuring value from technological investments. The same report found that 85% of companies struggle to simultaneously update operating models to accommodate their new visions and cover the upfront investment costs for new technology. These challenges are further compounded for...