The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) fell in the last week, according to new Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. For the week ending October 6, emergency stockpiles fell to 351.274 million barrels, down from 351.280 million barrels. In total, the U.S. has about 17 days’ worth of emergency oil supplies. Since the beginning of the year, […]
Archives for October 2023
U.S. inflation comes in hotter than expected on rising gasoline, shelter costs
The U.S. annual inflation rose for the third consecutive month in September, although it was more of a rounding error (3.67 percent to 3.72 percent). On a month-over-month basis, the consumer price index (CPI) jumped 0.4 percent, topping market estimates of 0.3 percent. Core inflation, which removes the volatile energy and food components, remained above […]
Producer prices climb to six-month high but revisions dominate the report
All the business news headlines involve the spike in producer prices. To summarize: The September producer price index (PPI) climbed 0.5 percent month-over-month and rose to 2.2 percent year-over-year. Core PPI, which omits the volatile energy and food components, jumped 0.3 percent and increased to 2.7 percent year-over-year. But the most notable part of the […]
Federal Reserve expects interest rates to be ‘restrictive’ until inflation eases
Here are minutes from the September Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy meeting: The manager turned first to a review of developments in financial markets over the intermeeting period. U.S. data releases generally pointed to greater economic resilience than previously thought, and the reaction in market pricing implied both a higher expected trajectory for the […]
Freddie Mac: 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average approaching 8%
Why would anyone bother selling their home if they acquired the residential property with a 2.89 percent mortgage rate? Have you seen mortgage rates these days? Last week, they hit 7.49 percent, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS). Other gauges were higher, but this is the standard market observers watch. Add the […]