(Bloomberg) — Jerome Powell has spoken, and his pronouncements on rate policy have left investors as confused about what the Federal Reserve is planning as they have been in more than two decades. The result: a severe uptick in market volatility. With three of the biggest intraday swings in a decade just in the past […]
Read MoreMarket volatility has picked up since the beginning of the year, with all three major indices now sitting at legitimate correction levels. The good news is that this week, all three indices look like they may have started to stabilize, finding support that could provide a new basis for another rally back in the direction […]
Read MoreUncertainty in the financial markets, and in the economy is usually considered a bad thing, because it makes things more difficult and stressful for everybody. Fear about inflation, the likelihood of rising interest rates, and the continued impact of a pandemic that is now extending into its third year has taken a toll on the […]
Read MoreMortgage rates surged again this week on inflation concerns, hitting the highest point in 22 months that sent homebuyers scrambling to lock in rates. Many homeowners, on the other hand, face a shrinking opportunity to refinance. The rate on the 30-year fixed rate mortgage – the most common home loan for buyers – increased to […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — Treasury yields are quickly moving higher as investor expectations grow that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in March and follow up with further moves throughout the year. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield has risen almost 30 basis points since the end of 2021 as market participants begin to price rate hikes […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — Emerging-market central banks were the first in the world to raise interest rates from their pandemic lows last year. That proactive tightening is starting to pay off big time in boosting returns from their local bonds. An index of debt issued by developing nations denominated in their own currencies has returned about 1% […]
Read MoreTreasury building in Washington, D.C. Erin Scott/Bloomberg There’s a well-known adage, often mistakenly described as a Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.” This certainty rings true for bond investors who, having witnessed a tumultuous 2021, saw a steep selloff in bonds in the first few days of January. While it is easy to […]
Read MoreWith consumer prices rising at the fastest pace in nearly 40 years, the Federal Reserve is signaling that it will soon begin raising interest rates. But the most important question hasn’t even been asked: Would higher rates do anything to quell inflation? Breaking news: Powell paints the picture of a soft landing, says Fed can […]
Read MoreThe bond bears have been in ascendance this week, even before the release of the latest minutes from the last Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The yield on the 10-year Treasury has jumped 23.7 basis points this week, the largest four-day yield gain since June 5, 2020, as the Fed minutes showed discussion of a […]
Read MoreMortgage rates rose markedly in the first week of 2022 — potentially setting the tone for a year in which economist expect interest rates to move steadily higher. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.22% for the week ending Jan. 6, up 11 basis points from the previous week, Freddie Mac FMCC, reported Thursday. This is […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — The cost of borrowing money in Turkey is surging, a sign that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s policy of driving down interest rates is starting to backfire. Since the central bank began slashing rates in September, the yield on 10-year government bonds has climbed more than 7 percentage points, touching an all-time high of […]
Read MoreFor more than two years – even before COVID-19 became a global pandemic that collapsed economic and social activity for most of 2020 and that continues to strain health care systems and keep pressure on a variety of economic forces – I’ve been writing about the wisdom in being very selective about the investments you […]
Read MoreOver the last three years, I’ve used economic uncertainty – first from a year-long trade war through 2019, and then of course the COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020 – as the basis for a lot of the analysis, and certainly some of my own investments in the marketplace. I think that when economic conditions become […]
Read MoreAll eyes were on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as the market digested the news Wednesday on what the central bank will do to keep the economy rebounding from the pandemic while countering the hot inflation that has consumers’ wallets sizzling. Market observers were betting the Fed will conclude its bond buying — a move […]
Read More“Uncertainty” has been the buzzword of the last few weeks in the marketplace. The emergence of yet another new, highly contagious coronavirus variant continues to keep pressure on a medical system that is already strained to its limits on one side of the economic picture, while the Fed’s consideration of moving up its plan to […]
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