The commercial real estate market, over the past three years, has struggled with a critical factor that is vastly changing the security it previously held. Following the pandemic, there has been a massive change in the way people work, live, …
Self-Employed Workforce Is Still an Expanding Trend
While millions of workers were suddenly faced with unemployment at the spark of the COVID-19 Pandemic, a shift to remote work has shown ripple effects throughout the labor market. One of the primary effects of the ability to work virtually …
Bond Yields Begin To Pull Back – Fixed Income Overview
As expected, the Federal Reserve announced the execution of its final rate increase in early May. Bond markets reacted with lower long-term yields as the Fed’s next move is projected by some analysts to be a reversal of rates. Elevated …
Stocks Hold On To Gains – Equity Market Update
Companies are currently in the process of reporting earnings for the first quarter of 2023, which are expected to greatly influence the direction of stock prices in the coming weeks. Concerns surrounding the banking sector are also weighing on equities …
Why Headline Inflation & Core Inflation Differ – Inflation Overview
Following historically high inflation throughout 2022, we have now had nine consecutive months of decreases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which has driven inflation to its lowest level since May 2021. Inflation in March measured at 5.0%, 1% lower …
More Banks Are Borrowing from The Fed – Monetary Policy Update
Widespread uncertainty and difficulties remain persistent for numerous banks, especially smaller regional banks. As investors’ trust in banks has recently fallen, depositors have withdrawn funds nationwide. The broad level of withdrawals has led many banks to tap the Federal Reserve …
Macro Overview – May 2023
Concern over additional bank failures has created ongoing uncertainty for equity and bond markets, as the collapse of First Republic Bank this past month has become the second-largest bank failure ever, with $229 billion in assets and over $100 billion …
Senior Citizen Scams on The Rise
While fraud, in general, has been significantly increasing in recent years, people ages 60 and above have become major targets of fraud. Amidst changing technological advancements, an increasing number of schemes are being employed to target and defraud elderly people. …
U.S. Taxes Lower Than Other Developed Countries
The notion that taxes in the United States are excessive compared to other countries, is somewhat misleading. Relative to other developed countries, the U.S. maintains some of the lowest tax rates globally. U.S. tax rates were much higher in the …
Inflation Reduction Act Provides Tax Breaks For Environmentally Friendly Energy Projects
With Congress passing the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in 2022, consumers are expected to see new tax savings centered around environmentally-friendly energy. Throughout the ten-year plan, home renovations and upgrades are expected to generate savings for households. The most significant …
Travel Industry Rebounding From Pandemic Slump
With March passing, it has officially been three years since the initial surge of the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down schools, in-person meetings, and disrupted most of the norms of daily life. While some industries benefitted from the new landscape …
Recent Unemployment Data May Be Misleading
In January, unemployment reached a 54-year low of just 3.4% which presented a positive sign for the economy. However, many analysts agree that this low unemployment rate may be misleading and artificially low for the true state of the economy. …
Macro Economic Overview – April 2023
The failure of two regional banks unsettled equity and fixed-income markets globally in March. Financial contagion risks were at the forefront of the financial markets as the closure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank fostered turmoil throughout the banking …
Lumber & Natural Gas Show Signs Of Deflation – Commodity Overview
The past year has been one of turmoil for natural resources, especially due to global instability amidst the war in Ukraine and supply constraints. Two vital commodities affected, lumber and natural gas, have seen heightened price volatility. As of this …
U.S. Equities Remain Cautious in February
Domestic equities continued to react to higher overall costs while also projecting lower earnings growth heading into the rest of 2023. Nearly all sectors of the S&P 500 Index posted negative returns for February, pointing to an overall pullback across …
REAL ID Deadline Postponed Until 2025
The Department of Homeland Security has announced that it will extend the REAL ID full enforcement date back 2 years from the original date of May 3, 2023, to May 7, 2025. This extension grants states the ability to work …
Rising Car Payments Become Less Affordable for Many – Automotive Industry
Since the pandemic ushered in a widespread global shortage of semiconductor chips that are vital to new vehicles, car prices have risen to historic highs. Three years later, the supply issue has dissipated somewhat, yet prices for new vehicles remain …
Why Some Taxpayers Might See Smaller Tax Refunds This Year
Some taxpayers will likely receive a significantly smaller refund compared with the previous tax year. Changes include amounts for the Child Tax Credit (CTC), Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and the Child and Dependent Care Credit which will revert to …
Loan Delinquencies On The Rise – Consumer Credit
Following the 2008 financial crisis, consumers began defaulting on loans across the board. Since then, loan delinquencies have fallen steadily, with some dropping lower than half of their crisis peaks. However, recent data show that this trend has been reversing, …
Macro Overview
Inflation worries persisted in February as government data revealed stubbornly elevated prices for food and energy. As a result, the Federal Reserve’s policy on additional rate increases continues to bombard the equity and bond markets. The Fed’s concern is that …