The Federal Reserve has raised its target federal funds rate by 0.5 percentage points in a continued effort to cool inflation. While this is a more typical hike compared to the 0.75 percentage point moves at each of the last four meetings, the central bank is far from finished, at least according to Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. Whether directly or indirectly, higher Fed rates influence borrowing costs for consumers and, to a lesser extent, the rates they earn on savings accounts.

In today's episode of The Higher Standard, Chris and Saied explore this latest rate hike and try to determine what it will mean for the economy, and for you.

They discuss a mystery rally in stock futures that spontaneously appeared in the seconds before the better-than-expected inflation number hit the Labor Department’s website, resulting in a 1% spike in stock futures as well as a surge in Treasury futures, pushing benchmark yields lower by about 4 basis points.

Chris and Saied look at a new report from Black Knight stating that approximately 270,000 homebuyers who bought during the red-hot housing market this year already owe more than their house is worth. Among the 450,000 embattled borrowers in the third quarter, nearly 60% had mortgages originated in the first nine months of 2022.

They also discuss a Commerce Department report indicating that consumers pulled back on spending in November, failing to keep up with even a muted level of inflation for the month.

Join Chris and Saied for this eye-opening conversation.

Enjoy!

What You’ll Learn in this Show:

• Why the NAR believes that existing-home sales will slide to 11-year low in 2023.
• What’s going to happen to homebuyers with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans.
• The real differences between Paul Volcker and Jerome Powell.
• Why the new FTX CEO will get paid before its allegedly defrauded customers will.
• And so much more...

Resources:

"Here’s what the Federal Reserve’s half-point rate hike means for you" (article from CNBC)

"In 60 seconds before CPI hit, heavy trading drove a mystery rally" (Bloomberg Businessweek via Instagram)

"The last time the Fed curbed inflation without crashing the economy, explained" (article from Vox)

"New FTX CEO is getting paid $1,300 an hour, and customers will foot the bill" (article from CNBC)

"U.S. existing-home sales to slide to 11-year low in 2023, NAR says" (article from Reuters)

"270,000 homebuyers who bought in 2022 are underwater on their mortgage" (article from Yahoo! Money)

"Fed raises interest rates half a point to highest level in 15 years" (article from CNBC)

Principle of the Day (Ray Dalio via Instagram)

Principle of the Day (Ray Dalio via Instagram)

"Consumer prices rose less than expected in November, up 7.1% from a year ago" (article from CNBC)

“This is a sleeping giant. Many people are surprised at how much they are going to pay the city.” (TheRealDeal via Instagram)

"Retail sales fell 0.6% in November as consumers feel the pressure from inflation" (article from CNBC)

"For most American businesses, new Fed rate means loans now start at 10%-plus interest" (article from CNBC)

"Home flipping profits drop at the fastest pace in over a decade" (article from CNBC)