ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
Housing Market Intro and Summary In my last Housing Market Review, I described the dynamics of a housing market trying to wait out this cycle of rising rates. Since then, ever higher mortgage rates continued their relentless and sharp uptrend. Accordingly, the pressures on the housing market simply increased further. The marks of a deepening … Read more
Housing Market Intro and Summary In my last Housing Market Review, I called the housing slowdown a “reality check.” That reality is settling into all corners of the market. With mortgage rates resuming their surge over the past two months, the go-forward picture has dimmed further for the housing market. It seems likely the housing … Read more
Housing Market Intro and Summary A potential peaking in mortgage rates may be the only good thing to say about today’s housing market. Sales continue to slide, input costs remain high, affordability continues to decline, and builder sentiment sinks lower and lower. The reports from August tell a consistent story of a steepening housing downturn. … Read more
Housing Market Intro and Summary In “Marching Under the Shadow of Recession Fears – Housing Market Review” I spent some time discussing the impact of the Fed’s move to normalize monetary policy. That impact continues to ripple through the housing data. Yet, individual home builders are not yet reporting much impact from rising rates. They … Read more
Two recent studies from the Federal Reserve say a lot about its core concerns for inflation. These studies were released back-to-back just one week following Fed Chair Jerome Powell confirming the new religion at the Fed for (aggressively) fighting inflation. Researchers at the St. Louis Federal Reserve identified housing services (aka rents) as a core … Read more