Is the Fed Poised to\nAccelerate the \u2018Taper\u2019? <\/strong>According\nto the Labor Department, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 5.4%\nyear-over-year in September, which continues the trend of above-expectation\ninflation in the U.S. economy. Fed officials have stuck to the narrative that\ninflationary pressures will likely be \u2018transitory\u2019 as supply chain issues\nabate, but more recently Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and other Fed governors\nhave been shifting their tone. On Friday of last week, Chairman Powell said\nexplicitly that supply-chain disruptions would likely last longer than expected,\nand that the Fed \u201cwill need to make sure that our policy is positioned for a\nrange of possible outcomes.\u201d If that sounds like the Fed starting to hedge\ntheir \u2018transitory\u2019 position, it\u2019s because they are \u2013 officials have now\nconfirmed they will start reducing the $120 billion monthly QE purchases at\ntheir November 2-3 meeting, and some officials have suggested unwinding\npurchases faster while also moving up the potential timeline for higher rates. In\nour view, the equity markets have already priced in the reduction in monthly\nbond and mortgage security purchases, but a quicker timeline to raise the Fed funds\nrate may generate volatility in the short term. Minutes from November 2-3 will\nbe telling.1<\/sup> <\/p>\n\n\n\n ___________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n Avoid 8 of the Biggest Financial Mistakes <\/a><\/strong> ___________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another Month, Same\nHeadline: The U.S. Housing Market Stays Hot \u2013 <\/strong>Headlines often focus on issues with sticky inflation and snarled\nsupply chains, but one area of the economy that has stayed hot virtually\nthroughout the pandemic has been U.S. housing. Whether or not the strength of\nthe housing market is a good thing depends largely on whether someone is a\nbuyer or a seller. Many first-time homebuyers are having a particularly challenging\ntime \u2013 the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index soared\nalmost 20% in August from a year earlier, with the median existing-home sales\nprice up 13% year-over-year in September. Higher prices have in many cases led\nto higher-than-expected sales prices for sellers, but it has also reduced the\nshare of first-time buyers in the market down to 28% \u2013 the lowest level since\nJuly 2015. As you can see from the chart of the national home price index\nbelow, prices have surged since the pandemic started, and have not let up\nsince.3<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n What Data from the\nU.S. Labor Market is Telling Us \u2013 <\/strong>Jobless\nclaims in the U.S. dropped to 290,000 last week, which marks a new low within\nthis pandemic-influenced economy. Jobless claims are perhaps a better metric\nthan the unemployment rate to consider when determining the health of the labor\nmarket, as claims serve as a proxy for layoffs. In 2019, a year when the U.S.\neconomy was considered quite strong and before the pandemic struck, the weekly\naverage for jobless claims was 218,000, meaning the U.S. economy is approaching\na level of health in line with the previous expansion. Continuing claims, which\nmeasure how many people are still unemployed and receiving benefits, also fell\nto a pandemic low. As unemployment benefits eventually expire for those who are\nin the continuing claims category, a labor market with ample jobs awaits. In\nour view, we should continue to see improvement in the jobs market as a result.5<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Retirement Mistakes to Avoid During Times of Uncertainty \u2013<\/strong> While we can\u2019t predict or control the future of the market, it is possible to stay focused on actions that can help guide your future investments. There are common mistakes and habits that we believe can help some investors succeed while others fail. Don\u2019t fall prey to common investing mistakes! Labor market data shows improvement ahead, Fed poised to reduce QE purchases, home prices continue to rise<\/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],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-private-client-group","category-steady-investors-week"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9954","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=9954"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10272,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9954\/revisions\/10272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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How can investors prepare for what\u2019s to come while in a volatile market? There is no definite answer! However, you still have the opportunity to protect your investments and better prepare for any given financial situation.
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While there are many unknowns at present, we believe there are eight common mistakes that many investors make when planning for retirement. In our guide,\u00a08 Retirement Mistakes to Avoid<\/em>, we outline these mistakes and how you can potentially avoid them.
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If you have $500,000 or more to invest and want to learn more, click on the link below to get your free copy:
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<\/a>Learn About the 8 Retirement Mistakes to Avoid!<\/a>2<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/2_pic1-1-1024x395.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/1_pic2-1-1024x395.png\")
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To help you understand some of these mistakes and how to avoid them, we have created the guide,\u00a08 Retirement Mistakes to Avoid<\/em>.7<\/sup>
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In this guide, we provide our thoughts on what we believe are\u00a08 of the biggest retirement mistakes investors should avoid<\/strong>. If you have $500,000 or more to invest and want to learn more, click on the link below:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"