Team Wait and See Virtually no one was surprised when the Federal Reserve kept its key lending rate, the fed funds rate, at 4.25 – 4.50% last week. Fed officials had widely telegraphed that there would be no change in the fed funds rate. Hence, the decision had no...

Front-Running Tariffs Distort GDP The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported that first quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is the broadest measure of economic activity, fell at an annualized pace of 0.3%. Yet, a closer look reveals that the economy...

Tariff Threat in Play Our weekly Insights offers updates on pertinent financial and economic topics that educate and inform. They focus on what is important to investors. These may include inflation, the economy, interest rates, the Federal Reserve, and corporate...

The Consumer Bolsters GDP The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported last week that Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is the largest measure of goods and services for the economy, expanded at a 2.3% annualized pace in the fourth quarter. That’s down from 3.1% in...

Housing’s Worst Year in Nearly 30 Years It is not much of a stretch to say that home sales are in the basement. In 2024, the annual number of existing homes sold fell slightly to 4.06 million, the lowest since 1995. It’s important to note that 2024 came in lower than...

Despair to Jubilation and Beyond It’s prudent to cautiously eye rapid changes in market sentiment caused by short-term traders. A week ago, our summary focused on a strong jobs report, rising bond yields, and general concerns about inflation. There was a sense of...