Weekly Financial Market Updates
Trend Alert: Is Eating Out Taking A Bigger Bite Out Of Your Budget?
One of the biggest expenses for any family is the cost of food. If you like to cook, that cost is borne out in your monthly grocery bill. But if you’re pressed for time and don’t like to cook every day, you’ll see that in how much you’re spending at restaurants when you are eating…
Oil Prices Spike: What’s The Impact On A Recession?
Saudi Arabia’s key oil fields were attacked this past weekend, knocking out 50% of their daily oil production. Oil prices spiked 10% as a result, and you’ve probably noticed that the cost of gas for your car immediately jumped as well! With all the talk of a slowing economy in recent months, does this oil…
Why We Are Seeing Declining Rates Lead To Higher Stock Prices Right Now
On Thursday, September 12, the European Central Bank cut interest rates and re-activated its program to buy government bonds. The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates at its next meeting this month. Both of these moves are to help “stave off” an economic slowdown. As a result, stock indexes here in the U.S. and…
Monthly Employment Statistics: It’s Time For The Payroll Report!
On the first Friday of every month, the government releases employment statistics for the previous month. The financial press always seems to build these releases as “the biggest release of the year.” Indeed, this month‘s release of August payrolls will answer a lot of questions about how aggressive the Federal Reserve will cut rates at its…
Mortgage Rates Have Dropped To A New Low: Should I Refinance?
There’s been a lot of talk in the news lately about low interest rates and inverted yield curves. One newsworthy item that is being missed is how mortgage rates have dropped. As recently as last November, mortgage rates were approaching 5.00%. Now they’ve dropped all the way to 3.55% based on the latest survey from…
Have You Lived Through a Recession?
Last week we talked about an inverted yield curve and how many commentators believe that leads to recession. This week we’re going to look closer at what typically happens in a recession. The first thing to remember is that recessions are not uncommon. As mentioned in last week’s post, they happen on average about every…
