Tag Archives: September

Existing home sales fall to a 10-year low in September

October 20, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

Real estate broker Rebecca Van Camp places a “Sold” placard on her sign in front of a home in Meridian, Idaho, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020.

Darin Oswald | Tribune News Service | Getty Images

Existing homes are selling at the slowest pace since September 2012, with the exception of a brief drop at the start of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Sales of previously owned homes fell 1.5% in September from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.71 million units, according to a monthly survey from the National Association of Realtors.

That marked the eighth straight month of sales declines. Sales were lower by 23.8% year over year.

Sharply higher mortgage rates are causing an abrupt slowdown in the housing market. The average rate on the 30-year fixed home loan is now just over 7%, after starting this year around 3%. That is making an already pricey housing market even less affordable.

Despite the slowdown in sales, inventory continues to drop. There were 1.25 million homes for sales at the end of September, down 0.8% compared with September 2021. At the current sales pace, that represents a 3.2-month supply. Six months is considered a balanced supply.

“Despite weaker sales, multiple offers are still occurring with more than a quarter of homes selling above list price due to limited inventory,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR. “The current lack of supply underscores the vast contrast with the previous major market downturn from 2008 to 2010, when inventory levels were four times higher than they are today.”

Tight supply continues to put pressure on home prices. The median price of an existing home sold in September was $384,800, an increase of 8.4% from September 2021. Prices climbed at all price points. This makes 127 consecutive months of annual increases.

Prices are cooling, however. September marked the third straight month-to-month price decline, which usually fall this time of this year.

They’re falling harder this year, though, particularly on the lower end of the market, where inventory is much leaner. Homes priced between $100,000 and $250,000 dropped 28.4% from a year ago, while sales of homes priced between $750,000 and $1 million declined 9.5%.

Homes did sit on the market slightly longer in September, an average of 19 days, up from 16 days in August and 17 days in September 2021.

Higher mortgage rates aren’t just spooking potential buyers. They’re keeping sellers on the sidelines as well, which adds to the inventory crunch.

“Homeowners love their 3% mortgage rate, and they don’t want to give that up,” Yun said.

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Business

Retail sales September 2022:

October 14, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

Customers shop at the GU Co. store in the SoHo neighborhood of New York, US, on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022.

Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Consumer spending was flat in September as prices moved sharply higher and the Federal Reserve implemented higher interest rates to slow the economy, according to government figures released Thursday.

Retail and food services sales were little changed for the month after rising 0.4% in August, according to the advance estimate from the Commerce Department. That was below the Dow Jones estimate for a 0.3% gain. Excluding autos, sales rose 0.1%, against an estimate for no change.

Considering that the retail sales numbers are not adjusted for inflation, the report shows that real spending across the range of sectors the report covers retreated for the month.

A Bureau of Labor Statistics report Thursday indicated that consumer prices rose 0.4% including all goods and services, and 0.6% when excluding food and energy.

Miscellaneous store retailers saw a decline of 2.5% for the month, while gasoline stations were off 1.4% as energy prices declined.

A slew of other sectors also posted drops, including sporting goods, hobby, books and music stores as well as furniture and home furnishing stores, both of which posted a -0.7% drop, while electronics and appliances were off 0.8% and motor vehicle and parts dealers fell 0.4%.

General merchandise store sales rose 0.7%. Gainers also included online stores, bars and restaurants, clothing retailers and health and personal care stores, all of which saw 0.5% increases.

While the gains for the month were muted, retail sales rose 8.2% from a year ago, matching the rise in the consumer price index. Shoppers remain generally flush with cash though there are indications of late that they are dipping into savings to make ends meet.

The Fed has enacted multiple interest rate hikes aimed at reducing inflation and bringing the economy back into balance. Markets expect the central bank to raise rates up to 1.5 percentage points more through the end of the year.

A separate report Thursday showed that import prices fell 1.2% in September, slightly more than the 1.1% estimate. Exports declined 0.8%.

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Business

US employment growth cools in September

October 7, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

The robust pace of US jobs growth cooled in September but the unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped, firming expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by another 0.75 percentage points at its next meeting in November.

The world’s largest economy added 263,000 positions last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fewer than the 315,000 positions created in August and well below July’s 537,000 increase. So far in 2022, monthly jobs growth is averaging 420,000, down from the 562,000 average monthly pace in 2021.

Despite the slower pace of growth, the unemployment rate edged back down to its pre-pandemic low of 3.5 per cent as the share of Americans either employed or seeking a job declined slightly.

“The story is that a 0.75 percentage point hike in November is likely,” said Tiffany Wilding, North America economist at Pimco. “The Fed needs to continue to tighten.”

Officials at the US central bank are actively discussing whether a fourth-consecutive jumbo rate rise is necessary next month or if they can potentially downshift to raising rates in half-point increments. So far this year, the Fed has lifted its benchmark policy rate from near-zero to a range of 3 per cent to 3.25 per cent.

The debate rests on how resilient the US economy continues to be and whether inflation is beginning to trend back to the Fed’s 2 per cent target.

Friday’s report underscored that the labour market remains quite strong, despite recent signs employers are beginning to scale back hiring.

Earlier this week, new data showed companies slashed more than 1mn job openings in August — one of the sharpest monthly declines in two decades. That pushed the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed people down to 1.7 from 2.

Workers are still quitting at a high rate, however, suggesting that labour supply and demand are still out of balance.

Traders in fed funds futures contracts on Friday priced in the odds of a 0.75 percentage point rate rise next month at 82 per cent, according to CME Group, up from 75 per cent prior to the latest jobs report.

The S&P 500 slid 2.2 per cent lower in early trading on Wall Street on Friday, having been about flat ahead of the data release. The yield on the two-year US Treasury, which is sensitive to changes in policy expectations, was up 0.06 percentage points to 4.31 per cent.

According to Alex Veroude, chief investment officer for fixed income at Insight Investment, Friday’s data further solidifies that a Fed “pivot” is not coming anytime soon.

Officials this week have been adamant that they are not yet considering any kind of pause or scaling back of their tightening plans, even as signs of stress begin to emerge in the financial system and the global economic outlook sours.

Worryingly, the labour market is still hobbled by a shortage of workers. As of September, the so-called labour force participation rate still remained below its pre-pandemic level, at 62.3 per cent. The overall labour force also shrank by 57,000 people.

Leading the jobs gains was the leisure and hospitality industry, which added 83,000 positions, followed by a 60,000 increase in healthcare employment. The construction and manufacturing sectors continued to add jobs as well, while the number of transportation positions declined.

Average hourly earnings in September increased at the same 0.3 per cent rate as in the previous period, translating to an annual jump of 5 per cent.

The persistently tight labour market — and the wage gains that have followed suit as companies try to attract new hires and retain old ones — is a top concern for the Fed, which is actively trying to restrain demand and reduce price pressures through supersized interest rate increases.

By the end of the year, most officials forecast the federal funds rate to hover between 4.25 per cent and 4.5 per cent, with further rate rises in early 2023. The benchmark policy rate is expected to peak just above 4.5 per cent.

Officials project that their efforts to tame the worst inflation in four decades will require not only a sustained period of “below-trend” growth, but also job losses. A recession cannot be ruled out, Fed chair Jay Powell recently warned.

According to the most recent projections published by the Fed last month, the median forecast among policymakers for the unemployment rate shows it rising to just 3.8 per cent by the end of the year before jumping in 2023 to 4.4 per cent and staying at that level until 2025.

Officials have maintained that inflation can be tamed without a more substantive rise in unemployment, not least because employers may be hesitant to cut their workforces given the magnitude of the labour shortage since the onset of the pandemic.

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Business

ADP jobs report September 2022:

October 5, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

The U.S. labor market showed strength in September, with private companies adding more jobs than expected, payroll services firm ADP reported Wednesday.

Businesses added 208,000 for the month, better than the 200,000 Dow Jones estimate and ahead of the upwardly revised 185,000 in August.

Those gains came even as goods-producing industries reported a loss of 29,000 positions, with manufacturing down 13,000 and natural resources and mining losing 16,000.

However, a big jump in trade, transportation and utilities helped offset those losses, as the sector saw a jobs gain of 147,000.

Professional and business services added 57,000, while education and health services picked up 38,000 and leisure and hospitality grew by 31,000. There also were losers within the services sector, as information declined by 19,000 and financial activities saw a loss of 16,000 positions.

By size, companies employing 50-499 workers led with a 90,000 gain, while large firms added 60,000 and small businesses contributed 58,000.

The tight job market saw another month of sizeable pay hikes, with annual pay trending up 7.8% from a year ago, according to ADP, which compiles the report in tandem with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. Those changing jobs saw a median change in annual pay of 15.7%, down from 16.2% in August for the biggest monthly drop in the three years ADP has been tracking the data.

ADP’s report comes two days before the closely watched nonfarm payrolls report issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The estimate for the Friday report is a growth of 275,000 jobs. Though ADP revised its methodology over the summer, the August total, which was revised up sharply from the originally reported 132,000, was still well shy of the BLS count of 315,000 added jobs.

Federal Reserve officials are watching the jobs numbers closely as the central bank looks to stem high inflation.

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Business

Stocks rise sharply as Wall Street crawls out of a brutal September

October 3, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

U.S. stocks bounced Monday morning after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed out their first three-quarter losing streak since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and the Dow logged its first such span of losses since 2015.

The benchmark S&P 500 index gained 1% at the open, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 330 points, or around 1.2%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7%.

Sizable moves in energy markets kicked off the week, with oil prices swinging higher as reports surfaced that OPEC+ is considering a big production cut of more than one billion barrels per day. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures surged 5.6% to $83.99 per barrel, while Brent crude climbed about 3.9% to $88.45 per barrel.

On the corporate front, shares of Credit Suisse (CS) fell 3% at the start of trading after the global investment bank’s CEO issued a memo over the weekend attempting to calm major investors about the institution’s financial health – an effort that backfired and instead raised questions about its financial stability.

The bank said last week that it was exploring potential sales of assets and certain business units as part of a strategic plan set to be revealed at the end of the month.

Tesla (TSLA) stock was also a mover Monday morning after the electric vehicle giant reported Sunday that it delivered 343,830 cars in the third quarter, a fresh record that came even as the company grappled with the shutdown of its China factory. Still, the figure came in below Wall Street expectations, which ranged from 358,000 to 371,000 vehicles. Shares fell more than 6% early into the session.

A Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle (EV) is displayed at the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, China September 1, 2022. REUTERS/Florence Lo

Investors are reeling from a brutal month and quarter that saw all three major averages enter a bear market. In September, the S&P 500 recorded a 9.3% loss, its worst monthly decline since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. The Dow erased more than 8% and the Nasdaq Composite more than 10%. For the quarter, the indexes shed roughly 5.3%, 4.1%, and 6.7%, respectively.

As Wall Street turned the page, some strategists look ahead to October, which has been deemed a “bear-market killer” based on historically strong returns, especially in midterm election years. Every time the S&P 500 has dropped 7% or more in September, stocks have done well in October, Carson Group’s Ryan Detrick noted.

A high-stakes earnings season likely to be wrought by slashed forecasts and worsening fundamentals tied to inflation and rising interest rates, however, makes this time different.

“The focus will be on earnings because we’re going from a moderation shock, with higher interest rates, to a growth shock,” Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Pictet Asset Management, told Yahoo Finance Live in a recent interview. “This is where we feel more worried, and next earnings season is going to be really critical.”

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Alexandra Semenova is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alexandraandnyc

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Entertainment

SNL finally got around to killing Nicole Kidman’s AMC ad

October 2, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

Chloe Feinbaum as Nicole Kidman

Photo: SNL

It was a wild year for AMC’s beloved Nicole Kidman ad. Playing before nearly every movie at AMC theaters since September last year, Nicole Kidman’s “somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this” ad has become a year-long exercise in communal irony. It’s a rare example of society taking the piss out of cynical corporate pleas for patronage by taking the ad very seriously. Kidman’s shiny pinstripe suit, inexplicable inclusion of Jurassic World as an example of enjoyable moviegoing, and her trickster grin rattling off word salad have become bumper stickers, t-shirts, and internet memes about how theatergoers pay tribute to the God of movies: Nicole Kidman. Now, after a full calendar year of jokes about the ad, Saturday Night Live finally got around to making the jokes that people on Twitter have been pushing for months.

In its season 45 premiere, SNL sends cast-member Chloe Feinbaum down unda’ with a thick Australian accent in a faithful recreation of the AMC spot, with Feinbaum exaggerating Kidman’s reaction to every bit of the ridiculous advertising copy. As Kidman nears the end of her speech, fellow theatergoers begin to salute the screen, chanting, “heartbreak feels good in a place like this.” Kidman’s power grows as the chants commence, and she is imbued with the power of a Marvel second act twist, levitating above her seat and attracting lightning bolts to her shiny suit, decrying her ability to “make movies better.”

Nicole Kidman AMC Ad – SNL

Unfortunately for everyone who enjoyed the ad at AMC theatres, SNL is where memes go to die, a sign of their overexposure while slapping it with a definitive “take” that millions more will see. That take for much of the sketch is that Kidman has a funny accent, while the rest more or less lines up with a hyperbolic version of how regular folks reacted to the commercial—saluting, cheering, and treating Kidman with reverence.

We already know that AMC has commissioned a sequel to their beloved pre-roll bumper, which will undoubtedly feature even more nonsensical statements about the magic of movies. So after that, the only thing left will be for Nicole Kidman to pick the bones of her viral success by appearing on SNL, playing opposite Chloe Feinbaum, as they shoot lightning bolts out of their fingers and argue which heroes feel like the best parts of us—because here, they are.

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Sports

Washington vs. UCLA – Game Recap – September 30, 2022

October 1, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

PASADENA, Calif. — — Dorian Thompson-Robinson had read and heard the comments about UCLA’s unbeaten start not meaning much due to the quality of opponents it played.

On Friday night, Thompson-Robinson and the Bruins made sure to make a statement with their first victory over a top-15 team since 2014.

Thompson-Robinson passed for 315 yards and three touchdowns in UCLA’s 40-32 victory over No. 15 Washington in a matchup of unbeaten Pac-12 teams at the Rose Bowl.

“People were saying all week that we’re the worst 4-0 team out there and writing us off. I think my boys came here with a chip on their shoulder,” said Thompson-Robinson, who had the sixth 300-yard passing game of his career. “I think I told y’all on Monday, see if Washington can run with us, not the other way around.”

The fifth-year senior also ran 2 yards for a score in the third quarter, when he sidestepped defenders Bralen Trice and Jayvion Green, causing them to fall on one another in a heap near the goal line in making it 33-10.

Thompson-Robinson supplied the highlight plays, but plenty of other Bruins contributed to give them their first 5-0 start since 2013.

Zach Charbonnet rushed for 124 yards and a score, Jake Bobo had six receptions for 142 yards and a pair of TDs while the Bruins recorded their first safety in four years and forced a pair of turnovers.

“Our defense did a great job in the first half. For them to stake us that lead when we needed every inch of it,” coach Chip Kelly said. “Dorian was clutch. We have total confidence in everything that he does.”

The Bruins have also won eight straight dating to last season — their longest unbeaten streak since 2005. They have scored at least 40 points in six of those victories.

Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. came into the game leading the nation in passing yards but struggled in the first half as UCLA (2-0 Pac-12) scored on four straight drives and jumped out to a 26-10 halftime lead.

“We dug ourselves too big of a hole in the first half,” coach Kalen DeBoer said. “Our guys now realize is that we’re a team that people are gonna get up to play. Not that we went into the game thinking otherwise, but we got to emotionally and physically be ready to play.”

Penix finished 33 of 48 for 345 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. The junior passed for a pair of touchdowns and 2-point conversions in the fourth quarter as the Huskies got within eight, but UCLA ran out the final three minutes.

Rome Odunze had eight receptions for 116 yards and two touchdowns.

“Just wasn’t executing. We got to do better,” Penix said. “Me myself personally, I got to take care of the ball better. And that’s really all it was, just poor execution.”

Washington (4-1, 1-1) appeared to be rolling early after it took the opening kickoff and scored 10 plays later when Odunze beat safety Devin Kirkwood in single coverage and hauled in a 33-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-6.

The Bruins drove to the 3 on its opening drive, but turned it over on downs after three straight incomplete passes. Two plays later, the defense came up with its first big play when Penix botched a pitch and linebacker Laiatu Latu tackled Wayne Taulapapa in the end zone.

Latu, who also had three tackles and a sack, began his career at Washington before transferring this year. It was UCLA’s first safety since the 2018 season finale against Stanford.

After the free kick, the Bruins went 93 yards in 11 plays, which culminated in Charbonnet scoring from a yard to give them a 9-7 lead. That marked the first time that Washington had trailed in a game this season.

The Huskies regained the lead on Peyton Henry’s 50-yard field goal before the Bruins scored 24 straight points. Bobo caught a 12-yard strike midway through the second quarter to give UCLA the lead for good. One play after Stephan Blaylock picked off Penix and returned it to the UW 15, Thompson-Robinson found Kam Brown alone in the end zone to extend the lead to 23-10.

THE TAKEAWAY

Washington: The Huskies were ranked near the bottom of the conference in pass defense as their secondary had plenty of problems trying to contain Thompson-Robinson and Bobo.

UCLA: The Bruins had lost 11 straight games against top- 15 foes, including two to the Huskies, before Friday night’s win. Their last win was in the Alamo Bowl against No. 11 Kansas State to wrap up the 2014 season. UCLA’s last victory against a top-15 Pac-12 team was also in 2014 against No. 14 Arizona.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

UCLA had not received many votes due to playing the softest nonconference schedule of a Power Five team, but the win over the Huskies should give them plenty of momentum to jump into the rankings. A late fourth-quarter rally should keep Washington in the poll.

UP NEXT

Washington: At Arizona State next Saturday.

UCLA: Hosts No. 12 Utah next Saturday.

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