Market Minute
August 2023 – By Bob Veres
The U.S. Federal Reserve Board once again raised the so-called fed funds rate, the rate that our central bank charges lending institutions on overnight loans. Does anybody care?
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What’s Going on with the Housing Market?
Market Memo – Planning Article
July 2023 – By Tom Rueger, J.D., CFP®
After a run that saw mortgage rates drop to all-time lows and home prices soar to new highs, the U.S. housing market finally started slowing in late 2022. Real estate professionals worried about a housing recession and home prices seemed poised for a correction as mortgage rates moved higher. For the week ending July 6, mortgage rates hit 6.81%, the highest level for the year so far, Freddie Mac reported (CNN). In theory, when mortgage rates go up, home prices should fall since it raises the cost of homeownership, thereby reducing demand.
Continue readingBuying International
Market Memo
July 2023 – By Bob Veres
In investing, the most normal inclination in the world is to question why an underperforming investment was included in the portfolio. Recently, those questions have surrounded international stocks, which, since January 2008, have consistently underperformed the U.S. S&P 500 index to the tune of 6.5 percentage points a year. Why not go ahead and ditch those foreign stocks and buy American?
Continue readingDiminishing Stock Market
Market Minute
July 2023 – By Bob Veres
Back in 1997, investors could choose from more than 8,000 publicly traded companies listed on various exchanges. Today, that number is just over 4,000. What’s going on?
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