Market Commentary

Market CommentaryFor the week of September 26th, 2022ECONOMIC REVIEW1 The Federal Reserve approved a third consecutive interest rate hike of 0.75%, Chairman Jerome Powell announced at the conclusion of their two-day meeting this past Wednesday. The unanimous decision brings the benchmark federal funds rate to a range of 3.00 – 3.25%, a level not seen since 2008. Perhaps more significant, however, was the evolution of the new projections from Fed officials. All but one official now ex

Market CommentaryFor the week of September 19th, 2022ECONOMIC REVIEW1 The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 0.1% on a month over month basis and increased 8.3% on a year over year basis. Both readings were greater than the expectations of a monthly decline of -0.1% and a yearly increase of 8.1%. The Producer Price Index (PPI) declined -0.1% on a month over month basis and increased 8.7% on a year over year basis. The monthly reading was in line with expectations while the yearly number

Market CommentaryFor the week of September 12th, 2022ECONOMIC REVIEW1 The ISM Services Index increased to 56.9 in August, easily beating the consensus expected 55.3. Major activity levels moved mostly higher in July, with most standing north of 50, signaling expansion.New Orders and Business Activity, the two most forward-looking sections of the report, rose 1.9 and 1.0 to 61.8 and 60.9, respectively.The Suppliers Deliveries index fell 3.3 to 54.5, continuing its downward trajectory, hitting i

Market CommentaryFor the week of September 5th, 2022ECONOMIC REVIEW1 The job openings and labor turnover survey (JOLTS) for the month of July saw the labor force add more openings than expected. The expectation was for job openings to decrease, however, the number of openings once again spiked to over 11 million.That is still nearly double the pool of workers looking for a job, which sits around 5.7 million. The QUITs rate, which can be a proxy for worker confidence, dropped to about 2.7%, but