Tuesday's Scoop: Steady 🌤️

Hey friend - welcome back to your daily scoops on the economy and companies impacting your life.

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

1. Americans lost a little confidence in the economy in June.

2. Home prices keep climbing.

3. Crypto prices tumbled this past week as investors got nervous about reaching a market top.

Inflation Rate: +3.3% (YoY), +0.0% (MoM)
^{Policymakers aim for 2% YoY inflation. (May CPI)}

Americans’ optimism about the economy faded a little in June. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence index fell to 100.4 from 101.3 in May. People are still relatively positive about finding job opportunities and think the cost of living won’t rise as quickly over the next year. Fewer plan to buy big items like cars, but more are planning vacations. The perceived likelihood of a recession decreased, with younger and older age groups showing improved confidence.

30yr Mortgage Rate: 6.9%
^{That’s up from 6.7% a year ago. (MBA)}
Median Home Price: $419,300
^{That’s up from $397K a year ago. (NAR)}

Home prices keep climbing. According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, US single-family home prices rose by 0.2% in April from the previous month. Over the past year, house prices are up by 6.3%. All nine US regions saw annual house price appreciation, with notable increases in New England and the Middle Atlantic. Despite the steady rise, higher mortgage rates and increased housing inventory could slow this momentum. The National Association of Realtors reported a surge in new homes hitting the market in May, though there’s still a shortage of affordable housing. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate reached 7.22% in early May but slightly decreased to 6.87% last week, still nearly double what a mortgage cost just a few years ago.

The Market: ⬆️ +0.4%
S&P 500: 5,469.30
1Mo: +3% | 1Yr: +26% | 5Yr: +86%

The market drifted higher on Tuesday after three straight days of declines led by massive sales of major tech stocks like Nvidia. There wasn't much major economic data to change the narrative of solid growth and slowing inflation that pushed the stock market to record highs last week.

Cryptocurrencies have taken a nosedive this past week as investors worry about an end to the broader market rally. Bitcoin's price fell below $60,000 on Monday for the first time since May 3 before recovering slightly. The selloff was widespread across most cryptocurrencies. The asset is driven by momentum and flows, so general sentiment shifts are often the best rationalization for price swings. This past week, there were several big sales from Bitcoin miners and government agencies who confiscated stolen coins. There were also fears of potential sales from upcoming distributions to victims of a massive hack years ago. Big sales can often spook more investors into selling.