In the past two years, the U.S. consumer has been a big part of the country's strong economic growth. Rising wages, multiple fiscal stimulus checks, and easy access to cheap credit have helped.

Today international stocks currently trade at more attractive valuations than U.S. stocks after a decade of underperformance.

The U.S. housing market is experiencing a significant slowdown after two years of rapid growth.

Stock market volatility is rising this year after a relatively calm 2021. Financial markets are experiencing bigger moves up and down as investors navigate a long list of events.

Early inflation pressures were attributed to clogged supply chains and strong demand overwhelming limited supply, but a new source of inflation is gaining attention as supply chains normalize – wage inflation.

After declining during the pandemic, data shows consumer credit usage is rising again and is now back above pre-pandemic levels.

Why is productivity declining? One potential explanation is that pandemic-related themes, such as remote work and inflation, make measuring productivity more difficult and distort the data.

The ongoing housing market slowdown indicates the Federal Reserve’s interest rate increases are already impacting the economy.

The Fed is expected to keep raising interest rates at its meetings later this year, although the amount of interest rate increases remains an open question.

In the near term, the outlook for the exact track the market will follow is uncertain because of all these factors that leave the market searching for direction.

Why are stocks and bonds declining together? The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates and shrinking its balance sheet by selling bonds, which pressures both stock and bond valuations.

January 2022’s personal savings rate of 6.1% was the lowest since December 2013.