Today's Scoop:

Hey friends, hope you had a great weekend. Did you catch our piece on startup investing?

Here's what you need to know today...

1. Living costs are inflating.

2. People are starting to buy homes again.

3. There still aren't as many people selling their homes.

S&P 500: 3,982.241Mo: -1% | 1Yr: -9% | 5Yr: +48%

The market inched higher after an ugly week last week. The economy isn't fading into recession, so investors have started worrying about persistent inflation again and even higher interest rates.

Living costs keep rising. Policymakers' preferred inflation gauge reported a 0.6% jump in January, 3x the rise in December. Spiking gas and energy costs were the most to blame, but food prices haven't slowed their climb. Food costs 11% more than it did a year ago. Everything we spend money on is 5.4% more expensive than a year ago.

Home buyers returned to the market in January as mortgage rates ticked lower. The National Association of Realtors reported the number of new home contracts jumped the most in two and a half years last month. Mortgage rates are still nearly double what they were at the start of last year.

The supply of homes on the market is still low, though. Digital realtor Opendoor said the number of new listings coming to market is at the lowest level in two decades. Homeowners want to hang on to their low mortgage rates.

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(These links only work for 24 hours while the story is live)

Antirust / Monopoly

Federal antitrust laws are designed to increase economic competition by limiting the market power of any company or small group of companies (aka a trust).

The Federal Trade Commission, and sometimes the Justice Department, are tasked with monitoring pricing practices and collusion between significant corporations to break up monopolies and other anti-competitive power structures.

Regulators review all corporate mergers and acquisitions to ensure newly-formed companies won't limit competition in a way that harms consumers with less choice or higher prices.

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