Research

Economic Update - 12.3.21
Economic Update - 12.3.21

Featured topics:

  • Omicron Market Volatility
  • Commercial Property Prices
  • Commercial Property Prices (By Property Type)
  • Existing Home Sales
  • Fiscal Impact Measure
  • Federal Reserve November Meeting
  • Self-Storage Market Growth
  • GDP Now
  • Thanksgiving Travel
  • The Great Retirement

1. OMICRON MARKET VOLATILITY

• Markets were roiled late last week in reaction to the World Health Organization’s announcement of a newly discovered COVID-19 strain in South Africa. Dubbed the “Omicron variant,” public health officials signaled their concerns about its potential to spread even amongst vaccinated populations, leading to heightened uncertainty in financial markets.

• On Monday, Nov. 29th, Nasdaq, the S&P 500, and Treasury Yields all climbed following Friday’s bearish activity, signaling an easing of initial fears surrounding the variant.

• Friday’s (Nov. 26th) news caused investors to push back their expected date for a Fed rate hike. According to data compiled by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, traders were pricing in just a 53.3% chance of at least one rate hike between now and June 2022, down from 82.1% on November 24th.

• In an interview over the weekend, Atlanta Fed Chair and FOMC voting member Rafeal Bostic attempted to contextualize the risk to economic growth, stating that momentum within the economy should prevent a potential new wave from knocking the economy off its axes. Bostic signaled it could still be “reasonable” for the committee to still begin tapering its asset purchases by the end of this year.

 

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