Monday's Scoop: Snooze☀️

Hey friend - hope you had a lovely weekend. Catch up with our Weekly Scoop and don’t miss the new Explained digging into the challenges for working parents! If you’re not an Insider, refer, open, vote, or upgrade to unlock your status!

Here’s what you need to know today to inform your work, spending, and investments…

1. The government finally agreed to a budget for the year - six months in.

2. New home prices fell last month as more supply came onto the market.

3. The planet is warming faster than expected.

Unemployment Rate: 3.9%
^{Still near the lowest rate in 50+ years}

The government narrowly avoided another shutdown last week by agreeing to fund all departments through September. A US government shutdown occurs when Congress can't agree on a budget for the upcoming fiscal year. It's a political standoff, often due to disagreements on where money should be spent, causing disruptions until a compromise is reached. If a new annual budget is not passed by the Oct 1 deadline, many federal agencies and services may stop operating due to lack of funding. After missing the Oct 1 deadline, Congress kept the government operational with four different short-term funding deals, essentially procrastinating in October, November, January, and again earlier this month. This final deal approves the budget for the IRS and Departments of Defense, Justice, State, and Treasury while providing a pay raise for servicemembers.

Global Energy Emissions: 37.4 billion tonnes of CO₂
^{An all-time high, up 1.1% from 2022. (IEA)}

United Nations scientists have called for a red alert on global climate after breaking every major heat record last year. The World Meteorological Organization reported that 2023 suffered the hottest average air temperatures on record by a clear margin, measuring 1.45 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The world has been aiming to limit warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid potentially disrupting critical balances in Earth’s climate. One key concern is ocean currents regulated by warming and cooling water. Ocean temperatures reached the hottest in 65 years of data, which scientists fear may be nearly impossible to reverse. Antarctica is also melting rapidly. Last year’s ice area was smaller than the previous record by the size of Egypt. Things are getting worse faster than scientists had predicted, raising alarms for society and our economy.

30yr Mortgage Rate: 7.0%
^{That’s up from 6.7% a year ago. (MBA)}
Median Existing Home Price: $384,500
^{That’s up from $364K a year ago. (NAR)}

New home prices are improving as construction picks up. The Commerce Department reported that the median sales price of a newly constructed home fell to the lowest in more than 2.5 years last month as the new home supply rose to the highest since November 2022. Climbing mortgage rates in February slowed sales for the month, but the sales volume was still 6% higher than a year ago. Even though new homes only make up about 15% of the market, these trends are good signs for housing prices. There has been a massive shortage of homes available for sale, keeping prices from falling even as mortgage costs climb. Also, existing home resales surged last month, construction picked up, and home builder confidence climbed.

The Market: ⬇️ -0.3%
S&P 500: 5,218.19
1Mo: +3% | 1Yr: +31% | 5Yr: +84%

The market drifted sideways on Monday, a pretty boring day for economic news. Investors wonder whether the rally can continue while the economy shows more signs of slowing.