January 17, 2017 Last week we focused upon the employment situation in the long-term — looking back at 2016 and for the past eight to ten years. If there is one economic indicator which rivals the importance of the employment situation, it is real estate. Looking back, the real estate boom contributed to the great […]
Read MoreJanuary 10, 2017. We just saw the last unemployment report of 2016. The December numbers came in at 156,000 jobs added for the month, which was a bit lower than expected–but the previous two months were revised upward by almost 20,000. The unemployment rate came in at 4.7%, as expected. Wage growth came in higher […]
Read MoreJanuary 3, 2017. The predictions for 2017 are all over the board with regard to the economy and the housing market in particular. While major variations always exist, this year the predictions vary more widely because of two major factors. First, we have a new administration being installed and we still don’t know what policies […]
Read MoreDecember 27, 2016. In our 30 years of writing this economic commentary, the one constant we can say about the economy is change. And there is no doubt that the rate of change has accelerated over the years. We had a huge housing boom just over 10 years ago, followed by a severe recession and […]
Read MoreDecember 20, 2016. The Federal Reserve Board has spoken. The increase of .25% in short-term interest rates surprised absolutely nobody. However, the markets did not like the statement accompanying the increase which alluded to as much as three rate hikes in 2017. Of course, last year they talked about the same thing and we had […]
Read MoreDecember 13, 2016. The speculation will end. Almost. While most everybody is expecting an increase in short-term rates by the Federal Reserve Board’s Open Market Committee, there are two questions that remain. First, by how much will the Fed raise rates? If you have asked this question just a month ago, the prevalent answer would […]
Read MoreLast week we had the last big data releases before the Federal Reserve Board’s Open Market Committee meets next week. This data included the first revision of the 3rd Quarter economic growth and personal income and spending. These reports came in on the strong side, with the economic growth revised higher and personal income and […]
Read MoreNovember 29, 2016 The biggest news with regard to the markets since the election has been the spike in long-term interest rates. The stock market has been rising as well, but there seems to have been a greater reaction on the bond market side. First, before anyone pins these trends to the surprise results of […]
Read MoreNovember 22, 2016 Thanksgiving arrives this week. Every year, this is the day we reserve for giving thanks. Certainly, in our country we have much to be thankful for. We are one of the richest countries of the world when you measure by per-capita income, and perhaps the richest when you measure per-capita income against […]
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