The Fed has lifted rates by 0.75 percentage point at each of its past three meetings, bringing its benchmark federal-funds rate to a range between 3% and 3.25% last month—the fastest pace of increases since the 1980s. Officials have indicated they could make a fourth increase of 0.75 point at their Nov. 1-2 meeting and raise the rate above 4.5% early next year.
Mortgage Rates
The once-hot real estate market is swiftly slowing down, with mortgage rates for a 30-year fixed loan over 6% — up from 3.29% at the start of the year.
Corporate Crime
A U.S. Sentencing Commission report said that guilty pleas by corporations have trended downward in recent decades, reaching 90 in 2021 from a high of 304 in 2000.
Trade Flows
With the surge in energy costs and rising interest rates weakening household demand, exports and imports should increase by just 1% in 2023, down from a previous forecast of 3.4%.
Retail Revival
U.S. retail vacancy fell to 6.1% in the second quarter, the lowest level in at least 15 years, while asking rents for U.S. shopping centers in the quarter were 16% higher than five years ago.
Interstate Aimbridge
The existing Interstate Hotels & Resorts portfolio, which has operated as Aimbridge’s international division since 2019, comprising some 114 properties (15,000 rooms) across the UK and Europe will be rebranded Aimbridge EMEA.
Dajia Sale
Dajia Insurance Group is putting up for sale the Montage in Laguna Beach, the Four Seasons resort in Jackson Hole and the Four Seasons in Scottsdale. The combined price tag is estimated at $1.3 billion.
Productivity
A large-scale survey revealed a wide gap between employees’ assessments of their own remote productivity and managers’ perceptions of how much gets done away from the office. Some 87% of the rank and file say they’re just as effective at home, but 80% of bosses disagree.
10-Year
The yield on 10-year U.S. government bonds briefly touched 4% for the first time in more than a decade Wednesday, the latest leg of a historically steep rise that has jolted financial markets this year.
Bear Market
Yesterday’s blue-chip index’s decline pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average into a bear market - defined in Wall Street parlance as a drop of 20% or more from a recent high.