Rent vs. buy – it is a big question with significant financial implications. This month’s chart, which tracks year-over-year growth of monthly rent and mortgage payments since the early 1980s, compares the cost of renting vs. buying a home.

More than 90% of S&P 500 companies have reported Q1 2023 earnings, with results exceeding expectations, with 78% reporting Q1 earnings that surpassed their estimates.

Fewer container imports indicate the economy is reverting to pre-pandemic norms. This drop could help alleviate supply chain bottlenecks and ease inflationary pressures, a positive development after inflation rose to a 40-year high during the pandemic.

During the pandemic, businesses and individuals flooded banks with new deposits. As the Fed raises interest rates and customers look for higher yields, the banking industry is under considerable pressure.

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.

The Fed tightening up is not necessarily an indication that inflation will ease. While this is the idea behind their actions, historically, it is not always the result.

The Federal Reserve’s goal is to raise interest rates to ease inflation pressure, but it could have the added side effect of slower economic growth.

Geopolitical risk is rising as tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalate in Eastern Europe. Financial markets are watching closely as the situation evolves.

2021 is quickly coming to an end, and investors are turning their attention toward 2022. Before the calendar turns, we want to take one last look at 2021.