by Mark Chandik | Sep 3, 2024
Overbuilding, speculation, and easy access to credit encouraged a housing boom and a bust in the 2000s. Sales cratered later in the decade, and along with it, prices tumbled. Today, housing sales have plummeted once again. According to the National Association of...
by Mark Chandik | Aug 12, 2024
Ask the average investor what inflation or unemployment is, and they can probably give you a good working definition. Ask them about the ‘carry trade,’ and you’ll likely get a blank stare. Even the term itself isn’t intuitive. But a sudden unwinding of the carry trade...
by Mark Chandik | Jul 15, 2024
Weekly Market Commentary In 2021 and 2022, soaring inflation sparked the most aggressive series of rate hikes in decades. While prices remain high, the rate of those price increases has slowed, and the Federal Reserve may finally be seriously considering a reduction...
by Mark Chandik | Jun 17, 2024
Weekly Market Commentary As expected, the Federal Reserve announced last Wednesday that it held its key rate, the fed funds rate, unchanged at 5.25 – 5.50%. The Fed left the door open to a cut in rates later in the year if inflation makes meaningful progress toward...
by Mark Chandik | Jun 3, 2024
Weekly Market Commentary The price of a home hit a new record, according to the latest data on housing prices. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index, which measures monthly housing prices in 20 major metropolitan areas, rose 1.6% on a...
by Mark Chandik | May 28, 2024
Weekly Market Commentary Stocks have been drifting higher for several weeks as investors search for a catalyst that could drive shares in either direction. Interest rates can influence market direction, but there hasn’t been much news recently on the rate front....