Will They — Or Won’t They?
April 22, 2025 The initial reaction to the tariff wars has been a major retrenchment in the stock markets and extreme volatility for bonds as well. With many analysts using the word recession repeatedly, an important question has arisen — should the Federal Reserve step in and implement an “emergency” rate cut.” We say “emergency” […]
Read MoreThe Tariff Wars Have Arrived
Wait and See Attitude
March 25, 2025 The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee met last week and as expected, they did not lower or raise their benchmark interest rate. Despite evidence of a softening of the economic climate, they choose to sit back and wait to see what the effects will be as certain new policies are implemented by […]
Read MoreCan Tariffs Lower Interest Rates?
March 18, 2025 Thus far, we have just heard about the fact that the implementation of tariffs will increase prices. Another term for higher prices is the dreaded word inflation. And we all know what increased inflation brings to the table – higher interest rates. Gulp. The Federal Reserve is much less likely to lower […]
Read MoreWill Government Layoffs Affect the Job Market?
March 11, 2025 The Administration has put their plans in place to eliminate tens of thousands of Federal employees. As the February jobs report was just released last week, we must start to ponder if these layoffs will affect the overall jobs market. If the private sector is strong enough, those unemployed could be absorbed […]
Read MoreThe Fate of the CFPB
February 25, 2025 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created by the Dodd-Frank Act in the wake of the financial crisis which spawned the Great Recession of 2008. Unlike the pandemic-induced recession of 2020, the recovery of the economy from the Great Recession was long and painful, especially within the real estate industry which is […]
Read MoreGetting Used to Higher Rates
February 18, 2025 There is no doubt about the fact that higher interest rates are putting a cap on potential growth in the real estate market. Together with high housing prices, affordability has certainly been a major factor within the sector for a few years now. While you can understand market analysts and participants in […]
Read MoreA Big Ho-Hum?
February 11, 2025 By all rights, we should have seen extreme market volatility during the past several weeks. After all, we have a new President implementing many new initiatives – from back to the office for federal employees to a constant threat of tariffs toward various countries. Yet, the stock and bond markets have been […]
Read More2025’s First Big Data and Event
February 4, 2025 The economic new year is now rolling along. While the markets await the anticipated results of the new Administration’s policies, the economy does not wait for anyone. Last week was the first big economic event of the year – a meeting of the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee. Most were predicting a […]
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