Record-Breaking\nMortgage Activity \u2013 <\/strong>The pandemic and associated lockdowns caused major\ndisruption in many parts of the economy \u2013 but not housing. In 2020, Americans\nare on pace to take out more mortgages than ever before, which would mean\nexceeding the prior record of $3.7 trillion reached in 2003. 15 years ago, the\nsurge in mortgage lending was driven in large part by subprime lending and excess\nrisk-taking. Today, the surge is being driven by record-low interest rates and\na drive to refinance. In the first three quarters of 2020, refinancing\napplications made up 65% of all originations.1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n ______________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n Use Market Volatility to Your Advantage!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n With the unknowns and\noutcomes that are stemming from this current pandemic, it\u2019s a challenge for\ninvestors to adjust to market volatility. Predicting the future can result in\ndiscomfort and uncertainty. As we wait for the market to fully recover, we\nrecommend that investors learn the positives of volatility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have $500,000 or\nmore to invest, get our free guide, \u201cUsing Market Volatility to Your Advantage\u201d\nand learn our insights, based on decades of experience, about how a volatile\nmarket may be able to actually help investors refine their strategies and\npotentially generate solid returns over time. Download Our Guide, \u201cUsing Market Volatility to Your Advantage<\/a>\u201d2<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ______________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n 30-Year Fixed\nMortgage Rates Hover at All-Time Lows<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis3<\/sup><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n New buyers are also flooding the market, in what Toll\nBrothers CEO framed as \u201cthe strongest housing market I have seen in 30 years.\u201d\nMany millennials are entering the market as first-time home buyers, nudged into\nbuying as a result of moving away from cities and into more rural areas with\nmore space. Housing strength on the level we\u2019re seeing in 2020 cannot persist\nlong-term, however, and we\u2019d expect to see a softening in activity in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Regulatory Push\nAgainst Big Tech Intensifies \u2013 <\/strong>A few weeks ago, the Justice Department brought\na landmark case against Google, accusing the company of being anti-competitive\nin regards to its search business. The regulatory headwinds against Big Tech\ngrew stiffer this week: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 46 states sued\nFacebook, accusing the company of thwarting competition through acquisitions. The\nFacebook and Google cases mark two sweeping antitrust cases that may just be\nthe tip of the iceberg for some of the biggest companies in the world.4<\/sup>\nIn the Facebook case, the suit is seeking to unwind Facebook\u2019s acquisitions of\nWhatsApp and Instagram, while also accusing the company of weakening privacy\nprotections for consumers. The cases against Google and Facebook may take years\nto play out, but one thing seems clear \u2013 the days of total impunity for tech\ngiants are fading fast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Commodities Rally May\nSignal Expectation of Future Growth \u2013 <\/strong>When making forecasts for future\neconomic growth, it\u2019s important for investors to consider leading <\/em>indicators that may offer clues for expected activity. One\nof those indicators, interestingly, is commodity prices \u2013 particularly\nindustrial metals. Industrial metals are used in a wide variety of ways, from\nbuilding houses to expanding plants to manufacturing cars. Anytime we see a\nuniform rise in commodity prices when the economy is signaling expansion in other\nareas, it often serves as confirmation that investors and producers are betting\nthe recovery will continue. In the past several weeks, we\u2019ve seen signs of\nstrength across the metal markets \u2013 copper has risen to its highest level in\neight years, iron ore is one of the best performing assets in 2020, and aluminum\nand zinc are up at least 40% since early summer. China\u2019s swift recovery has\nushered in much of this support for metals, but the expectation for a broader\nglobal economic recovery may be pushing prices even higher.5<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Finding Silver Linings amid the Pandemic<\/strong> \u2013 During this time of constant changes in the market, it may be hard to find the silver linings in the current crisis, but that doesn\u2019t mean they aren\u2019t there. To help give you additional insight into how you can make the most of turbulent times, I recommend reading our guide \u201cUsing Market Volatility to Your Advantage<\/a>.\u201d5<\/sup>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n This guide\ncan help you learn about our insights, based on decades of experience, about\nhow a volatile market may be able to actually help investors refine their\nstrategies and potentially generate solid returns over time. If you have $500,000 or\nmore to invest, download this free guide today by clicking on the link below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Google and Facebook face regulatory push, refinances and new buyers up, metal rally signals confidence <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,73,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-private-client-group","category-steady-investors-week","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9126"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10492,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9126\/revisions\/10492"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nYou\u2019ll get our ideas on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/steadyinvestor1-1024x395.png\")
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\nYou\u2019ll get our ideas on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n