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Last Week in Review: Uncertainty Takes Over the Markets Fiscal Stimulus Fiscal stimulus refers to policy measures undertaken by a government that typically reduce taxes or regulations and increase government spending in order to boost economic activity. This past week, both Fed Chair Powell and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin called for more “fiscal stimulus” to help […]

Last Week in Review: The Fed Spoke, the Markets Reacted Last Wednesday, the Federal Reserve issued its Monetary Policy Statement and held a press conference. An unofficial mandate for the Fed is to maintain "market calm" and not say anything to roil either Stocks or Bonds. Overall, the Fed statement and press conference were extremely […]

The Last Week in Review: Good, Bad, and Ugly Before the Fed The Good Last week, home loan rates hit all-time low levels despite progress and optimism on a vaccine, the economy, and the job market. A continued tailwind for relatively low rates comes from the Eurozone, where their central bank, the ECB, left rates […]

This past week, the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium took place. This annual event which started back in 1981 is attended by central bankers, finance ministers, and other officials from around the globe, to discuss and deliver speeches on important economic issues facing worldwide economies. History has shown this event to deliver market-moving comments and major […]

Last Week in Review: New Home Prices to Climb this Fall No Progress From Congress This week we watched rates modestly improve as uncertainty climbed. The main culprit is the ongoing “debate” in Congress on what a fourth stimulus bill will look like. History has shown that Congress will likely get something done, things will just […]

Last Week in Review: The Return of Inflation and Opportunity “Inflation is when you pay fifteen dollars for the ten-dollar haircut you used to get for five dollars when you had hair.”— Sam Ewing This past week, home loan rates ticked up from the best levels ever, and the 10-year Note yield moved sharply higher […]

Last Week in Review: Fed Pushes Everything Higher, Except Rates “We’re not even thinking about thinking about thinking about raising rates.” — Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, August, 2020 This recent quote by Fed Chair Powell says it all. Coronavirus has caused the largest shock to the U.S. economy in living memory. Second Quarter GDP declined at […]

Last Week in Review: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly The path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus.” — Fed Monetary Policy Statement, July 29, 2020 The Good: This past week, home loan rates hovered at all-time lows in response to uncertainty surrounding the economic impact of COVID-19 and the […]

Last Week in Review: Stocks and Bonds are Getting Along, for Now This past week, Freddie Mac reported the average 30-year mortgage is at an all-time low of 3.01% At the same time, the NASDAQ and Stocks overall are hovering right near all-time highs. Typically, when Stocks move higher, so do rates. Not this time […]

Last Week in Review: Low Rates Plus Buying Demand Equals Good News This past week, Freddie Mac reported mortgage rates hit an all-time low of 3.03%. What is most impressive with the improvement in mortgage-backed security prices and rates, is it happened as Stocks enjoyed nice gains, with the NASDAQ hitting all-time record highs. Typically, when […]