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☆ Homebuyers canceled a record 60,000 purchase contracts last month because they're waiting for mortgage rates and home prices to fall
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Nearly 18% of pending home sales nationwide were canceled in October, the most since 2013. High inflation and mortgage rates have kept buyers at bay, even as the market begins to cool. Developers are turning to build-to-rent buyers to offload new supply as demand wanes. Rising home prices have been a chief scourge for homebuyers and homebuilders alike throughout the pandemic. "Professional rental companies in some ways bring more efficiency and they might help solve affordability problems because of very high mortgage rates right now," Tomasz Piskorski, a professor of real estate at Columbia Business School, told Insider in November.

☆ Hoping for a Central-Bank Pivot? Forget the Fed and Look South
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Jon Sindreu | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Bonds denominated in currencies like the Brazilian real could have upside, because central banks in emerging markets started raising interest rates before the Federal Reserve, and could also be first in slashing them. Wall Street is currently obsessed with guessing when the Federal Reserve will stop raising interest rates. Rather than waiting for this much-discussed “pivot” in the U.S., however, investors may be better served by scouting out emerging markets first, especially Latin America. The stock-market rally that started earlier this month with a soft U.S. inflation figure has started to fade, as recent statements by officials cast doubt on the idea that the end of aggressive monetary tightening is nigh. Last week, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said rates would likely need to be set between 5% and 7%.

There are hints that the worst of the U.S.'s bout with inflation may be in the past. The consumer price index, a widely watched inflation gauge, came in at 7.7% in October when compared with a year earlier. Inflation can be very hard to predict," Kevin Kliesen, business economist and research officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, told CNBC in an interview. However, any potential downturn is expected to be mild, The Conference Board CEO Steve Odland told CNBC. This could be a much less painful experience with the Fed trying to tame inflation than it has been in the past," Odland said.

☆ Here's when Wall Street thinks inflation could finally end
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Noah Higgins-Dunn | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

There are hints that the worst of the U.S.'s bout with inflation may be in the past. The consumer price index, a widely watched inflation gauge, came in at 7.7% in October when compared with a year earlier. While that was still well above the Federal Reserves' 2% target, it did clock in below Wall Street's expectations. However, any potential downturn is expected to be mild, The Conference Board CEO Steve Odland told CNBC. This could be a much less painful experience with the Fed trying to tame inflation than it has been in the past."

☆ 100 years of stock-market history show the sell-off is likely only half done, says a 30-year market vet who called the downturn. Here are 3 criteria to watch to know when the worst is over.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Jon Wolfenbarger thinks stock-market investors are still too optimistic that a bear market bottom is coming sometime in the immediate-to-near future. When bear markets occur when valuations are relatively high, the bear markets tend to drag on longer. The median bear market length during periods of high valuation among those listed above is 17 months, Wolfenbarger said, compared to 13 months when valuations are attractive. Given that the current market sell-off began amid some of the highest valuations in history, Wolfenbarger said he expects the bear market to last 17 months or longer. Wolfenbarger's views in contextIn June, Societe Generale conducted a similar analysis to Wolfenbarger's and looked at bear markets over the last 150 years.

☆ The housing-affordability crisis is sparking startup founders, Wall Streeters, and nonprofit leaders to try to offer new solutions
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Hana R. Alberts | Jordan Pandy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Some innovations may help homebuyers, renters, and investors cope with the affordability crisis. 100 People Transforming Business is an annual list highlighting people across industries who are changing the way the world does business. Mortgage rates have topped 7%, the highest rate in 20 years, which means homebuyers can afford less house for their money. That's why many people and companies in the real-estate industry are trying to help homebuyers, renters, and investors cope with an affordability crisis. That's where the Washington, DC, nonprofit Grounded Solutions Network comes in: It says it helps repurpose "vacant space into vibrant space."

☆ Moving in Together Doesn’t Match the Financial Benefits of Marriage, but Why?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Julia Carpenter | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A walk down the aisle can be a route to greater wealth and prosperity for couples in the U.S. Married people have higher net worths and are more likely to be homeowners than their unmarried counterparts their age are. The mystery, though, is why cohabitating but unmarried couples struggle to build wealth in the same way. As of 2019, the median net worth for cohabiting couples age 25 to 34 was $17,372, a quarter that of the $68,210 for married couples of that same age range, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. For singles it is $7,341.

☆ Moving In Together Doesn’t Match the Financial Benefits of Marriage, but Why?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Julia Carpenter | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Home prices in these 8 markets are falling the fastest as the US housing market slows down at the quickest pace ever
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

It's official: home prices in the US are in a downward trend on a national level. This is killing buyers' ability to afford higher prices. Housing affordability — when taking into account home prices, mortgage rates, and incomes — is now at one of its lowest levels in decades, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. Scott Buchta, the head of fixed income strategy at Brean Capital, also said in a memo on Wednesday that home price declines would continue, eventually falling on a year-over-year basis. Many see a so-called "Fed pivot" back to dovish policy as necessary for mortgage rates to fall.

☆ BiggerPockets’ housing-market guru says he sees home prices falling up to 10% over the next 12 months with housing affordability at four-decade-lows
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

With housing affordability deteriorating, home prices are due to fall, says Dave Meyer. The BiggerPockets housing market expert said he expects a decline of up to 10% in prices. "Houses are just not affordable at these prices with these interest rates," Meyer said. Either mortgage rates would have to skyrocket, he said, or housing prices would have to continue on their torrid pace upward. Morgan Stanley strategists said in late September that they expect home price growth to end 2023 at -3% year-over-over.

☆ Premarket stocks: Why investors aren't going green
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

ESG funds in September saw their largest outflow of investor cash since the March 2020 recession. These ESG and responsible investing funds saw assets under management peak above $8.5 trillion in late 2021. That’s because ESG ratings agencies tend to rate companies against others within their industry, so oil and gas companies are rated separately from automotive companies. A debate over how to regulate ESG funds is also adding to the noisy picture. But the hurdles facing ESG investing show that doing so is easier said than done.

☆ JPMorgan Chase uses Advancing Black Wealth Tour to boost financial literacy, address racial wealth gap
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Frank Holland | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

JPMorgan Chase brought its Advancing Black Wealth Tour to Philadelphia on October 8, 2022. Photo: Steven CW Taylor & Salim Weldon of Steven Taylor PhotographyA new endeavor from JPMorgan Chase is trying to help close the racial wealth gap. The bank's Advancing Black Wealth Tour, launched this spring, aims to give attendees the tools they need to manage their finances and build sustainable wealth — even with the possibility of a recession on the horizon. The racial wealth gap describes the disparity in wealth between Black and white households in the United States. Prepare for 'a feast after the famine'JPMorgan Chase brought its Advancing Black Wealth Tour to Philadelphia on October 8, 2022.

☆ Blackstone is betting big on lending out money in the private markets, and the PE giant has $182 billion to do it
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Blackstone has some money to lendBlackstone, the world's largest private-equity firm and a big fan of warehouses, reported earnings on Thursday. By comparison, back in the good ole days (see: Q3 2021), Blackstone reported a profit of $1.4 billion. Blackstone reported its private credit unit was up 3% in the third quarter and 9.3% over the past 12 months. To read more about Blackstone's push into private credit, click here. A Fed president spoke somewhere that a Fed president shouldn't really be speaking, The New York Times reported.

☆ Morgan Stanley now expects home price growth to dip negative in 2023 as mortgage rates surge to their highest levels since 2007 — and shares 4 charts that show how extreme conditions in the housing ma
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Average 30-year mortgage rates, by some measures, now sit above 7%. Add Morgan Stanley to the list of firms who now expect a decline in home prices in 2023. "We now think that YoY home price growth will turn negative in the first half of the year before finishing 2023 at -3%," they added. Morgan StanleyThe Morgan Stanley strategists see that trend to continuing. That's assuming mortgage rates stay at 6%, which they estimate is probably a conservative level.

☆ The price of butter is sky-high and 'not going to come down,' says supply chain expert—here's why
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-05 | by ( Aditi Shrikant | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

As we enter the holiday baking season, one key ingredient will be harder to find: butter. In January, the average price of butter was $3.67 per pound, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. "Prices are not going to come down," says Scott Grawe, a professor of supply chain management at Iowa State University. Extreme temperatures, floods, droughts, along with frequent and intense storms "weighed on productivity growth," according to a USDA report. In August 2022, there was about 282.6 million pounds of butter in storage, down from the 362.7 million pounds in August 2021, according to a USDA report.

☆ Gen Z's 6-figure side hustles should scare companies more than quiet quitting, says Gary Vaynerchuk: 'There's so many goddamn options for these kids to make money on the internet'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Gary Vaynerchuk said on TikTok that companies need to court Gen Z with better pay and career growth potential. He said Gen Z has more avenues than ever to make money on side hustles. That dynamic is more dangerous for companies than the "quiet quitting" trend, Vaynerchuk said. He said as much in a recent TikTok video, when asked about the "quiet quitting" trend. "We shit on Gen Z for being entitled and lazy, and what they're being is thoughtfully understanding of their options."

☆ Historic rate hikes mark the largest 6-month increase in 41 years: What you should do with your money
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Ryan Ermey | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell pauses during a news conference after Federal Reserve raised its target interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point in Washington, September 21, 2022. You'd have to go back to 1981 to find a six-month period when interest rates rose more. With more interest rate hikes on the rise, it's worth reviewing how they affect your finances and how financial experts say you can best adjust your saving, spending and investing strategies. "You are peddling into a progressively stiffer headwind as interest rates rise," Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate, told CNBC. Up the interest rate you're getting on cash in the bankOne silver lining of a rising rate environment is that it becomes more lucrative to save.

☆ Car insurance costs more, but 'several million people' may still not have enough, expert says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Ryan Ermey | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Thanks to inflation, you're likely paying more for just about everything these days, and car insurance is no exception. Depending on your policy, that could be a big problem, says Cate Deventer, insurance writer and editor at Bankrate. In the case of an accident, your insurance will pay up to a maximum amount specified in your policy. And the costs associated with car accident insurance claims are on the rise. In 2020, auto insurers paid out an average $20,235 for bodily injury claims from car accidents, per the Insurance Information Institute.

☆ The best- and worst-paying college majors, five years after graduation
▼ + stars: | 2022-02-12 | by ( Mike Winters | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The bottom 10 majors after five years are mostly liberal arts degrees, and they all pay less than $40,000 in wages right after college. In some cases, the lower-ranked majors pay almost less than half of what the best-paying majors earn. The good news is that most college majors still offer greater earning potential compared to a high school degree. The median wage for college grads ages 22-27 is $52,000, compared to a median wage of $30,000 for workers with no college degrees. This includes family and consumer sciences majors, who earn a median mid-career salary of $51,000.

Twenty-eight percent of millennials think they're worse off financially than they thought they'd be a decade ago, according to an INSIDER and Morning Consult survey. Twenty-eight percent of millennials think they're worse off financially than they thought they'd be a decade ago, according to an INSIDER and Morning Consult survey. Of those who answered the question, more than half who think they're worse off financially consider themselves poor, while 34% of respondents consider themselves working class — only 14% of the people who answered think they're middle class. The burden of student-loan debt, which totaled nearly $1.5 trillion in 2018, according to Student Loan Hero, doesn't make saving any easier. Of the millennials who think they're worse off financially, 33% are still paying off student loans; 23% previously paid them off.

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