Wednesday's Scoop: Uninspired🌤️

Hey friend - did you catch us on CNBC?

Watch the full interview on our website.

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

1. The price for brand-new homes keeps climbing.

2. Businesses are still signaling confidence with their equipment investments.

3. The government passed a massive foreign aid bill with a TikTok ban.

Unemployment Rate: 3.8%
^{Still near the lowest rate in 50+ years}

Businesses kept spending on self-improvement in March despite facing hurdles with high borrowing costs. The Commerce Department reported orders for core capital goods, any non-defense equipment from computers to trucks that last more than three years, rose by 0.2%. The slow but consistent spending on long-term equipment means high borrowing costs have slowed investment without stifling it. The manufacturing sector has shown signs of recovery in the past few months after more than a year of contraction.

Inflation Rate: +3.5% (YoY), +0.4% (MoM)
^{Policymakers aim for 2% YoY inflation. (CPI)}

President Joe Biden signed a significant $95 billion foreign aid package that not only tightens sanctions on Iran's oil trade but also provides crucial assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The package provides roughly $60 billion for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel, and $8 billion to boost security in Taiwan and the broader Indo-Pacific region. In addition to the foreign aid, the legislation compels TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or face a national ban in the US within 270 days, citing concerns over security and free speech.

30yr Mortgage Rate: 7.2%
^{That’s up from 6.6% a year ago. (MBA)}
Median Home Price: $393,500
^{That’s up from $375K a year ago. (Existing homes - NAR)}

The price for brand-new homes keeps climbing. The Commerce Department reported the median sale price for a newly constructed home rose to a seven-month high of $430,700 in March. Despite climbing prices, the number of new homes sold rose 8.8%. The average 30-year mortgage cost is nearly double what it was a few years ago, deterring homeowners with low rates from selling and financing a new place at current rates. That’s left the supply of existing homes on the market at half of what it was in 2019, pushing buyers toward newly-built homes.

The Market: ⬆️ +0.02%
S&P 500: 5,071.63
1Mo: -3% | 1Yr: +25% | 5Yr: +73%

The market didn't do much on Wednesday as investors debated a mixed batch of corporate financial reports. Sales are slowing, and the best-performing companies have generated higher-than-expected profits by cutting costs.