Author: Aileen Beno-Lietz

Economic news was mixed last week. Existing homes sales came back slightly below estimates, while new home sales slightly exceeded them. The housing market continues to be impacted by a reduced inventory of homes as well as higher interest rates.
As of Thursday, Freddie Mac reported that the 30-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage Average in the United States hit a 22-year high at 7.23 percent. The last time that the 30-year fixed rate was this high was in June of 2001.

The dog days of summer saw the equity markets melt under the heat as all five indices closed lower. This marked the third week of declines for the S&P 500. While the S&P 500 has managed to reach a new high-water mark for the year in August, only 3 of the 14 trading days this month have ended positive.

The July CPI results came in at expectation with an increase of 0.2 percent for the month while the year-over-year number for the headline result was slightly favorable with a 3.2 percent result compared to the 3.3 percent expected.

This week holds the July FOMC Meeting. Market participants anticipate that the FOMC will raise the Fed Funds rate one more time to the 525-550 basis point level. As it stands today, the CME Group projects the greater probability that this will serve as the peak in the Fed Funds rate.

This week holds the July FOMC Meeting. Market participants anticipate that the FOMC will raise the Fed Funds rate one more time to the 525-550 basis point level. As it stands today, the CME Group projects the greater probability that this will serve as the peak in the Fed Funds rate.

This week holds the July FOMC Meeting. Market participants anticipate that the FOMC will raise the Fed Funds rate one more time to the 525-550 basis point level. As it stands today, the CME Group projects the greater probability that this will serve as the peak in the Fed Funds rate.