News & Insights
A lot happened in 2024, some good and some bad. The fighting in the Middle East and Ukraine continued with no end in sight for either. There was a total eclipse of the sun early in the year, bringing in an estimated $6 billion in revenue for the country. Taylor Swift’s worldwide Eras tour had...
A lot happened in 2024, some good and some bad. The fighting in the Middle East and Ukraine continued with no end in sight for either. There was a total eclipse of the sun early in the year, bringing in an estimated $6 billion in revenue for the country. Taylor Swift’s worldwide Eras tour had...
A lot happened in 2024, some good and some bad. The fighting in the Middle East and Ukraine continued with no end in sight for either. There was a total eclipse of the sun early in the year, bringing in an estimated $6 billion in revenue for the country. Taylor Swift’s worldwide Eras tour had...
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) gave the markets exactly what was expected this week – a hawkish pause of a 25 basis point cut. In plain English, that translates to a rate cut now with hints of slower and fewer cuts to come. The reaction to the third rate cut in three months was anything but expected.
When it comes to measuring inflation, or any economic data for that matter, the expectation tends to be more important than reality. If the data is in line with what analysts expect, the real number – no matter how good or bad – loses its impact. This was the initial reaction in the case of November's inflation reports. Both the consumer and wholesale price indices came close to expectations but...
The addition of 227,000 jobs in November was a welcome relief after the unusually low, albeit upwardly revised, gain of 36,000 jobs in October. The three-month average of job additions amounts to 173,000 per month, a respectable pace for a sustainable labor market and strong enough for the Fed to feel more at ease with the labor market.
It is becoming very clear that the housing market is all about interest rates. Existing home sales rose 3.4% in October, the first increase in two months. Sales are based on contract closings signed in September when mortgage rates had fallen to the lowest level in almost two years.
The Fed unanimously voted to cut the benchmark rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 4.50% - 4.75%. According to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, the move was the second step in the Fed’s recalibration of monetary policy (the first step being September’s rate cut).
There was lots of discussion leading up to the monthly job report due to the hurricanes and ongoing Boeing strike occurring during October. No one was quite sure how these situations would play out in the labor market.