By Ryan Casey Stephens, FPQP®
Special contributionor
Did you enjoy that beautiful Labor Day weekend with such great weather?
When I was a kid, September often brought a circus or carnival to my small East Texas town. Now that the weather is starting to turn, I’m looking forward to the arrival of those fun fall events, the biggest of which is the State Fair of Texas, which starts later this month.
The markets have been a bit of a circus lately, to say the least, so let’s get on with the subject of this week’s Three Things to Know.
Interest rate roller coaster
Interest rates started in September at a 75-day high. In fact, there have only been three days this year with worse rates than what we saw on Thursday last week. That’s wild because August gave us the best prices we’ve seen since May. We are starting this short week with cautious optimism for better rates ahead, but we will have to be vigilant.
The Strong Man takes center stage
On Wednesday, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will speak via live stream at the Cato Institute’s Annual Monetary Conference. Speculation is mounting whether the Fed will hike by 0.5 percent or 0.75 percent later this month, so pundits will be listening closely for clues about what will happen next.
Who Hunted the Clowns?
This Friday we will get the latest initial jobless claims report, and it will certainly be quite significant.
The number of people filing for unemployment has risen steadily since April. If this trend continues, it could be an indication that a prolonged recession may be ahead, something that normally signals that interest rates may fall in the future.
Ryan Casey Stephens FPQP® is a mortgage banker with Watermark Capital. You can reach it at [email protected]
