February Market and Company News!

Jobs report gives Fed green light for more rate hikes

The Federal Reserve is almost certainly raising interest rates in March. The only question now is by how much.

The strong January jobs report is the last piece of evidence the Fed needs to show that inflation pressures are not going away anytime soon. With that in mind, traders are now pricing in a 100% chance of a rate hike next month.  “If the Fed is inclined to do a 50-basis-point rate hike in March, this jobs data doesn’t stand in their way,” said Tom Graff, head of fixed income for Brown Advisory. “And there is more space for the Fed to keep hiking over the long term.”

The Fed does have to tread cautiously, though. If it acts too quickly or raises rates too aggressively, it could choke the economic recovery. But sitting by while prices keep rising isn’t a great option either.  Read more here.

U.S. home sellers made a pretty penny in 2021, with the nationwide realized profit growing by 45% year-over-year, according to a new analysis published by real estate data vendor ATTOM this week.  Per ATTOM’s year-end home sales report, on average home sellers raked in a profit of $94,092 on a typical home sale last year, up from $64,931 in 2020.  For comparison sake, in 2019 a home seller’s realized profit averaged out to about $55,000, the report said.

ATTOM noted that rising home prices and profits were driven primarily by a combination of historically low interest rates and a desire by many households to trade congested virus-prone areas for the perceived safety and wider spaces of a single-family home.  (The national median home price also grew by 16.9% in 2021 to $301,000—an annual record, the report added.)  “As [home buyers] chased a tight supply of homes for sale, prices spiked and so did seller profits,” ATTOM said.

States with the highest return on investments were Boise, ID (121.8 % return on investment); Spokane, WA (86.5 %); Bremerton, WA (82.7%); Prescott, AZ (81.2%) and Salem, OR (81.2%).  Meanwhile, states with the biggest year-over-year increases in median home prices were Worcester, MA (up 39.6%); Barnstable, MA (up 39.2%); Boston, MA (up 28.8%); Boise, ID (up 27.2%) and Phoenix, AZ (up 26%), the report said.

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Meet our new sponsored STS Service Dog Trainee, Chief! Chief is a young, 1.5 year old shepherd mix Shelter to Soldier adopted through their good friends at Wags & Walks Rescue out of Los Angeles. He is a very energetic, joyful pup who is eager to learn and has loved his time so far in our training program. He has passed his 90 day evaluation, and is working on advanced obedience, socialization and experiencing many new environments with his trainers. He’s an affectionate guy who we believe will make a veteran really happy one day! Griffin Funding is a proud sponsor of Shelter to Soldier (STS). STS is a San Diego-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that rescues shelter dogs and trains them as psychiatric service dogs for post 9/11 U.S. combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or traumatic brain injury (TBI). “We are tremendously thankful for your support of our mission as a Red Star Sponsor, and for making a direct impact on Chief’s life so far. He would have had a difficult time succeeding in a pet dog home due to his size, excitability and drive – he is truly one that needed a job and arrived into the hands of trainers who can help harness his energy to focus and tasks. Thank you for making that possible for him and his future veteran!” -Kyrie Bloem, Co-founder and CEO of STS A BIG Thank you to Shelter to Soldier and the incredible work they do for our Veteran community!