Market Update | SEPT 22

DID YOU KNOW?

Top Headlines: Delivered by Leonard Steinberg

September 22, 2023

01 Invitation Homes , which owns about 83,000 houses, has been selling properties that have appreciated to the point that they are yielding less than 4% and putting the proceeds in the bank, where the cash is earning more than 5%.

(WSJ)

02 Sharply higher interest rates are wreaking havoc on small businesses globally. With roughly $300 trillion in global debt, the consequences could be meaningful. Sadly, these higher rates that cost business more to service are usually passed on to the consumer.....ie: they cause more inflation than they cure!

(Bloomberg)

03 Top economists from the largest U.S. banks expect higher borrowing costs to slow gross domestic product to 1.2% in 2024 from this year’s estimated 2%. They are also more optimistic that the Federal Reserve can achieve a “soft landing” and slow inflation without triggering a recession. 8 months ago, those same economists predicted that growth would flatline in 2023 and bring the U.S. closer to a recession.

(Barrons)

04 Singapore’s home sales fell last month to the lowest since January as demand slowed amid a lack of big launches. Purchases of new private apartments dropped to 394 units in August, figures from the Urban Redevelopment Authority. That’s down 72% from the previous month, when transactions climbed to a more than one-year high of 1,412 on the back of several major launches. Extremes are often followed by extremes.

(Bloomberg)

05 Jet fuel has risen the most, its price soaring more than 50% on the Gulf Coast since early May. Chinese demand has ballooned as Beijing has relaxed pandemic-era travel restrictions, pushing its August jet fuel consumption back toward its pre pandemic level from below 60% a year earlier. Higher gasoline prices accounted for more than half of August’s 0.6% increase in U.S. goods and services prices from July (US Labor Department). Expect delivery costs of all things to rise..... and travel!

(WSJ)