Markets have given investors plenty to think about lately, from changing interest rate expectations to questions about where growth goes next. In this week’s Steady Investor, we look at the developments shaping the outlook, including:
With 7% Mortgage Rates, What’s the Outlook for the U.S. Housing Market? – According to Freddie Mac, the average 30-year mortgage rate rose to 7.03% this week, crossing 7% for the first time since early 2025. 7% is not economically significant, but it is an important psychological threshold for buyers who saw current prices and 6% rates as intimidating. This has been the story for U.S. housing over the past four years or so. Many had hoped for a strong spring selling season with rates briefly dipping below 6% in February, but then geopolitical uncertainty pushed borrowing costs back up. To be fair, there are signs that the market is adapting. Existing-home inventory reached 1.62 million units in August, the highest level since 2019, as more homeowners decided they could no longer wait indefinitely for lower rates before moving. But a sustained move above 7% could slow that progress by making sellers more reluctant to trade in older mortgages near 3% while also forcing buyers to stretch further on monthly payments. It’s not just American consumers who are caught in this bind—home builders have already relied heavily on mortgage-rate buydowns and other incentives to support demand, but 7% rates present a new set of challenges. For investors, we think the key feature to remember is that housing remains constrained more by affordability than by a lack of underlying demand, underscoring the idea that housing weakness is likely not enough to reverse the economic expansion.1
Is Your Retirement Plan Prepared for Today’s Market Environment?
Even a well-built retirement plan may need a second look as prices remain high, interest rates change, and markets shift. How prepared is yours to handle the unexpected?
Download our free Crisis-Proof Retirement Guide² for practical steps to help make your retirement strategy more resilient, including:
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What a Diesel Export Ban Could Mean for the U.S. Economy – With diesel prices at record highs, reports this week suggested the U.S. is considering whether to restrict exports. The national average for on-highway diesel reached about $6.53 per gallon this week, according to the Energy Information Administration. U.S. diesel inventories also remain unusually low after disruptions to refining capacity in the Middle East and Russia tightened global supplies.At the same time, the U.S. remains the world’s largest diesel exporter, with shipments reaching a record 1.6 million barrels a day in August, up from roughly 1 million barrels a day before the Iran war. The argument is that keeping more of that fuel at home could help increase domestic supply and bring prices down. This argument has tidy logic on its face, but the complication is that refined-product markets are highly interconnected. Gulf Coast refiners produce more diesel than the region consumes and rely on exports as an outlet. If those exports were sharply restricted, storage could fill quickly and refiners might respond by processing less crude. That would reduce not only diesel output, but also gasoline and jet-fuel production. For these reasons, policymakers are also exploring narrower options, including voluntary reductions or temporary limits rather than an outright ban. In our view, export restrictions could change where fuel flows, but they would not create more refining capacity. The broader effects would depend heavily on how any policy is structured.3
Europe’s Economy Is Holding Up Better Than Expected – The euro-area economy is showing more resilience than many expected, despite higher energy prices, inflation, and tighter monetary policy. S&P Global’s flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 53.1 in September from 52.0 in August, comfortably above the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction. Germany posted its fastest growth since October 2025, while France unexpectedly expanded at its quickest pace in more than two years.The improvement was also broad-based. Manufacturing continued to strengthen, helped by AI- and defense-related spending, while services activity improved after weakness earlier in the summer. This is important because, as in the U.S., services account for a much larger share of euro-area output than manufacturing. The stronger data come even as the European Central Bank has raised rates twice since the Iran war began, and another increase remains possible.4
Could Your Retirement Plan Handle the Unexpected? Market swings, rising costs, and unexpected expenses can put pressure on even a carefully built retirement plan. How would yours hold up?
Our free Crisis-Proof Retirement Guide5 from Zacks offers strategies to help you prepare for uncertainty. Inside, you’ll find:
If you have $500,000+ to invest, download our free guide to discover strategies and help protect your retirement against market shocks and life’s unexpected events.
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