The Oil Markets
July 20, 2021 Last week we focused on the housing market. We would be remiss if we did not bring up the energy markets as well, as the price of oil has been in the headlines this year. It is always interesting when looking at history and how modern times have changed. For example, last […]
Read MoreThe Fed Mulls The Jobs Report
July 6, 2021 Last month the Federal Reserve Board spoke loudly. They actually had the audacity to suggest that they expect to raise rates shortly. Define shortly? Sometime in 2023! That is literally two years from now. Years ago, the Fed never telegraphed what they were inclined to do in advance. Now they are signaling […]
Read MoreDid We See It?
June 8, 2021 We were looking for some “bounce-back” numbers in the employment report last Friday. We believed that the stage was set with the progress of our vaccination program having a real effect on the number of COVID cases in our country. As of the middle of May, cases had dropped approximately 90% from […]
Read MoreAre We Expecting Too Much?
May 4, 2021 If you are reading the forecasts being released for this year, the optimism for a strong rebound has hit unprecedented highs. There has been plenty of data to support such optimism. This data has included a gain of nearly one million jobs in March. Add plenty of stimulus dollars to the equation, […]
Read MoreThe Importance of Inflation
April 6, 2021 Inflation, inflation, inflation. This year, rates have been headed up and we keep hearing this word being uttered again and again. Rates have been rising because there is an elevated threat of inflation. The question is – why are these two concepts linked together so often? Today, we would like to reintroduce […]
Read MoreHow Much is a Trillion Dollars?
March 23, 2021 Well, the issue of additional stimulus is resolved. We keep hearing the term “trillion” being bantered about. How much is a trillion dollars? A trillion dollars is a million dollars multiplied by a million. Or if you prefer, a thousand billion. It has 12 zeroes: $1,000,000,000,000. That is a lot of zeros. […]
Read MoreWhy House Values Have Soared During a Crisis
March 16, 2021 During the Great Recession, a little more than a decade ago — the value of real estate was hit significantly. We spent ten years recovering as values reached pre-recession levels and then some. During the COVID-induced recession of last year, home appreciation actually accelerated. Just recently, CoreLogic confirmed that house values rose […]
Read MoreRising Rates and Stocks Meet the Jobs Numbers
March 9, 2021 What is the definition of a “K-shaped” economic recovery? A “V-shaped” is a quick and sharp recovery and a “U-shaped” recovery is more gradual. The “K-shaped” recovery is bifurcated. This means that certain segments of the recovery are happening at different speeds. In this case, the real estate sector definitely represents the […]
Read MoreHow Quickly Could Rates Rise?
March 2, 2021 Interest rates have been so low for such a long period of time that many have taken these record low rates for granted. Though we have said this many times during the past year, we must understand that these historic rates will not be with us forever. Record low rates for an […]
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