Is the Economy Ready to Roar?
November 23, 2021 We had a strong October jobs report and the Delta variant is fading. Theoretically, this gives us a better chance that the economy’s fourth quarter growth rate will ramp up from the tepid 2.0% performance of the third quarter. But before we declare all systems go for accelerating growth, we do see […]
Read MoreIt is Still COVID
November 16, 2021 Don’t look now, but the pandemic has started to wane once again. After cases fell throughout the spring and early summer, the Delta variant pushed cases from a low of just over 10,000 per day to a high of almost 200,000 per day by early September. Now cases have fallen to around […]
Read MoreWhy Tapering Might Not Matter That Much
November 2, 2021 Today’s mortgage interest rate reflects a combination of factors such as today’s actions by the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee is meeting this week and the decision on whether to taper their purchases of bonds and mortgages will be front and center. The minutes of the Fed’s last meeting […]
Read MoreAn Important Week Coming Up
October 26, 2021 The year is winding down, but the economic news will be heating up. In the next week or so we will have the “trifecta” of economic events. First, this week we will see the measure of economic growth for the third quarter. This reading will be especially important because, following two strong […]
Read MoreIs The Fed Too Late?
October 19, 2021 If we stay on this course, the Fed will soon start tapering their purchases of bonds and mortgages. Not long after that process begins, they might even start raising short-term interest rates. Well, the government is famous for waiting too long to act and overreacting when they do act. Will this be […]
Read MoreCOVID 18 Months Later
September 14, 2021 In March of 2020 when the economy shut down due to the pandemic, few thought we would be dealing with the after-effects one and a half years later. In truth, we could not see the pandemic coming and we did not clearly see the future of the pandemic. As vaccinations have progressed, […]
Read MoreJobs Report Released
September 7, 2021 The last two employment reports have been very strong, bolstering consumer confidence and giving the economy some momentum as the summer wore on. Meanwhile, the Delta variant continues to grow providing trepidation concerning the future of the economy as the year wears on. Released on Friday, the August jobs report was not […]
Read MoreConflicting Factors
August 31, 2021 Today there has never been so many factors affecting the economy all at once – and many of these are pushing us in different directions. We have discussed many of these previously. First and foremost, we have COVID. The recession was COVID-induced, and our recovery depends upon the pace of vaccinations and […]
Read MoreIs This Where the Market Turns?
August 24, 2021 The strong July jobs report caused a stir in the markets. Most notably, long-term interest rates – which were trending down – reversed course quickly. Was this an indicator that the economy is going to pick up steam from here? It should be noted that the rise in rates did not last […]
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