... but I digress…
Since interest rates are all the rage right now, let’s spend a few minutes reviewing where we stand with three rate benchmarks and what’s expected by year-end.
Fed Funds Rate – 0.75% ...
The Federal Reserve meets this week and is expected to raise interest rates again. If they do, this will mark the third increase since December 2015, when the Fed raised rates following seven years at ...
Are you getting a little tired of me mentioning how interest rates and the Fed have been influencing the stock and bond markets? Well, I sometimes tire of it because it’s been on the radar for years now ...
... Fed, interest rates, and economic projections played a role again during the quarter but, as with stock performance, the surprises were generally positive.
Here’s a roundup of how major markets have ...
... some similarities to the conditions surrounding the second wave of inflation in the 1940s but not the first. What’s worth pointing out about that period as well is that it didn’t take higher rates to get ...
... debt and intent on raising interest rates to fight inflation, was supposed to be the culprit.
Or… high government spending would be absorbed by the economy. There would be imbalances, but these would ...
... expects 2024 to be more volatile than last year but the generally positive economic backdrop is expected to help hold up stock prices even as prices reset to an environment of higher interest rates. A ...
... to fight inflation. Here are a few predictions representing the current consensus.
JPMorgan expects/suggests (with at least a 1 in 3 chance of happening…) that the Fed cuts rates this year by 2.5%, bringing ...
... went back to the Fed and what they might do with interest rates.
Investors saw the Fed pause rate increases during the summer but were expecting plans to cut rates. That wasn’t materializing fast enough ...
... finish out pretty strong, especially when compared to last year.
The outlook is still primarily focused on the Fed and interest rates, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon. As I mentioned recently, ...
... to 2022. Maybe part of this depends on who already owned a home before inflation and mortgage rates shot up?
Here's a link to the Conference Board information if you’re interested.
https://www.conference-board.org/press/consumer-holiday-spending-2023 ...
... leading the other eight sectors by a wide margin.
Now let’s stretch our timing back a bit to January 2022 before inflation and interest rates became big issues. You’ll see how the Dow Jones has held ...
... portfolios so it’s good to see something positive coming from bonds.
Prices rose on hopes that the Fed is done raising interest rates this cycle and could even start reducing rates by next Spring. As ...
... were supposed to cause consumption problems, and they have. However, the thinking is that a host of other factors, from homeowners having locked in low mortgage rates as incomes and home equity rose, along ...
...
The yield on the 10yr Treasury bond is bouncing around 5%. This imperfect but typical benchmark for mortgage rates has been rising relentlessly but gained momentum in the last month or so, driving mortgage ...
... economy remained resilient. The combination of the latter two items led the Federal Reserve to pause raising interest rates during the quarter while signaling to markets that rates could remain higher ...
... due to the Fed raising interest rates so much so quickly to fight inflation. And then bank failures earlier this year were supposed to cause banks to stop lending and consumers to stop spending, crashing ...
... at Bespoke Investment Group about mortgage rates and the real estate market. This gets to the suggestion that the Fed has “killed” the housing market with higher interest rates. They haven’t killed it ...
... this year is down to 3.79%.
These rates are lower but still decent, right? Let’s compare what else is available in the marketplace.
Below is a yield matrix from yesterday morning showing timeframes ...
... will raise interest rates yet again, so no midsummer slowdown anytime soon.
Additionally, we keep edging closer to the date when Schwab fully absorbs the custodian I’ve been using for nearly ten years, ...