Week in Review for week ending 6-21-24
The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ added slightly to their record levels again last week, posting small gains and recording their eighth positive week out of the past nine. We're now near the halfway point of the year, and the S&P 500 is up over 14.5% (FactSet).
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes fell 0.7% in May, marking the third consecutive month of decline. This indicator demonstrates a consistent reduction in buyers' willingness to pay astronomical prices for homes. Personally, I still hear story after story of people missing out on homes they’ve put offers on despite offering considerably over asking, but that’s anecdotal. Hopefully, we start to see home prices moderating and that reflecting in future inflation measures.
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead to the current week, it will be interesting to see where the National Association of Realtors' pending home sales numbers come in on Thursday. Earlier this month, it came in flat despite new home listings increasing. This dynamic paints a picture of homes coming onto the market and sitting there longer, which should put downward pressure on pricing.
This week, we have the PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) inflation report coming out on Friday. It will likely echo the CPI report earlier this month, which showed inflation beginning to "unstuck" itself on its downward trajectory. It is expected that the PCE will be slightly "better" as it tends to be more responsive to consumer spending behaviors, making it the Fed's preferred gauge for tracking inflation.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me by phone or email. I'm here to help.
Until next week,
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