A Steady-as-She-Goes Fed and a Tame Inflation Report As expected, the Federal Reserve announced last Wednesday that it held its key rate, the fed funds rate, unchanged at 5.25 – 5.50%. The Fed left the door open to a cut in rates later in the year if inflation makes...
Strong Jobs Report, with a Caveat The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nonfarm payrolls in May rose 272,000, easily beating expectations of 190,000 per the Wall Street Journal. Over the past three years, nonfarm payrolls have usually topped expectations....
Housing Prices Hit New Record The price of a home hit a new record, according to the latest data on housing prices. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index, which measures monthly housing prices in 20 major metropolitan areas, rose 1.6% on a...
Drifting Higher Stocks have been drifting higher for several weeks as investors search for a catalyst that could drive shares in either direction. Interest rates can influence market direction, but there hasn’t been much news recently on the rate front. Federal...
How Do Investors Spell Relief? Investors celebrated an ‘in line with expectations’ CPI that suggested the rate of inflation isn’t accelerating. It’s a small win, but it was enough to send the three major market indexes, the Dow, the Nasdaq, and the S&P 500 to new...
An Annual Ritual at the Gas Pump You’re right if you have this nagging feeling that gas prices rise in the spring. As the graphic illustrates, on average prices rise through Memorial Day, plateau over the summer, and slip in the fall. This year is no exception,...
