A recent report by the Department of Commerce shows that consumer spending in the U.S. rose by 0.8% in April, following recent decline. With personal income also rising 0.4% in April, the report illustrated consumer...
Read MoreThe Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has released their House Price Index Report, revealing a rise in U.S. house prices by 4.3% between the first quarter of 2022 and 2023. Notable increases occurred in 43...
Read MoreOn May 22, the Federal Reserve released its Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2022. The report, revealed a decline in people’s financial well-being over the past year, to its lowest level since 2016. Out...
Read MoreWhile a resolution to the debt ceiling gridlock would allow the U.S. Treasury to raise funds to meet its financial obligations, it could increase competition for bank deposits. Banks have been under pressure due to...
Read MoreAccording to an article published by Bloomberg, collateralized loan obligation (CLO) market is facing rising funding costs and lower returns on investments. This has reduced CLO profitability and resulted in a decline in new CLO issuance,...
Read MoreThe Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s quarterly report on household debt underlined an increase in consumer credit card borrowing. Credit card balances surged to nearly $1 trillion by the end of the quarter, representing...
Read MoreS&P Global released a new proposed methodology for Insurer’s Risk-Based Capital, in line with SFA’s previous response to their initially proposed methodology in April, 2022. S&P is offering a webinar to provide an overview of...
Read MoreOn May 3, The Federal Reserve announced the decision to raise interest rates a quarter point to a range of 5-5.25%, the highest rate since 2007. During Wednesday’s press conference, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell alluded...
Read MoreOn April 21, Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic (ESR) Group released their April Outlook, which predicted stronger first quarter GDP growth than previously anticipated. Housing demand and home prices had remained consistent in 2022, largely...
Read MoreA recent research study in the Social Science Research Network found that only 6% of total bank assets were hedged against interest rate risk and the use of hedging actually declined in 2022, even as...
Read MoreBeginning with the April 7 release, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) calculation for initial jobless claims, which is used as a proxy for layoffs, reverts to multiplicative seasonal adjustment models. This pre-Covid methodology resulted in a revision...
Read MoreThe Conference Board’s survey, the Consumer Confidence Index, was unexpectedly higher in March, 104.2 when economists predicted 101.0, despite banking turmoil and expectations of recession. Respondents expressed continued confidence in jobs and increased expectations of...
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