Buyer’s Market—With Strings Attached Redfin reported last week that sellers are grappling with the strongest buyer’s market since the real estate brokerage firm began compiling records back in 2013. Sellers now outnumber buyers by 37%. More sellers than buyers give...

Investors Unfazed by Shutdown The government shutdown lasted from October 1 to November 12. It was the longest on record. During that period, the S&P 500 rose from 6,688.46 (September 30) to 6,850.92 (November 12), or an advance of 2.4%. As we’ve noted in prior...

The Job Market’s Missing Pulse The government shutdown has been and will always be prominently featured in the 24-hour news cycle. Travelers are feeling it, furloughed federal employees wonder when they will receive their next paycheck, and even the housing market is...

One Cut, Two Cut: The Fed’s Delicate Balancing Act The Federal Reserve delivered a widely expected 25-basis-point rate cut (bp, 1 bp = 0.01%), but Fed Chief Jay Powell tempered market enthusiasm by signaling that a December cut is far from certain. It was the second...

All That Glitters is Gold Among various assets, one unexpected outperformer has been gold. Since the start of the year, the shiny metal has increased by over 50%, easily surpassing the major stock market indexes. Globally, gold is priced in dollars. A rising dollar...

A Three-Year Anniversary On October 12, 2022, the S&P 500 Index hit a cyclical low. In hindsight, that marked the end of the 2022 bear market. Fast forward three years, and the current bull market has now been running for three years. Let’s compare the current run...