Existing-home sales fell 0.7% to 4.04 million in August according to the National Association of Realtors, with year-over-year sales down 15.3%. Single-family home sales slipped 1.5%, while condo and co-op sales rose 4.8%. The median sale price of an existing-home rose slightly to 407,100, up 3.9% year-over-year. The lack of inventory continues to push prices higher, despite increasing interest rates. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 7.18% last week according to Freddie Mac, up from 7.12% the week prior. The Conference Board's Leading Economic Index declined 0.4% in August. The index has declined for almost a year and a half and points towards challenging times ahead and a possible recession. The Conference Board is forecasting a brief and mild economic contraction in 2024. ... more
Turning to stocks, shares of Cisco (CSCO) are down after the announcement the company will purchase cybersecurity and data analytics firm Splunk (SPLK) for around $28 billion in cash. Shares of REIT W.P. Carey (WPC) fell today on the announcement the company will divest its office assets through a combination of a spin-off and direct sale of 146 office assets, accounting for roughly 15% of the company's annualized base rent. Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) are up slightly on the announcement the company will roll out an AI service called Copilot, which will be available to individual users on September 26 and with an enterprise version available November 1. The service aims to help users sift through, organize, and more efficiently interact with their data.
The S&P 500 is down 1.10%, the Dow is down 0.59%, the Nasdaq is down 1.30%, and the Russell 2000 is down 1.19%.
Industries trading higher today include: Air Freight & Logistics, Air Freight & Logistics, and Media. Industries trading lower today include: Industrial REITs, Construction Materials, and Communications Equipment.
The VIX is up 1.37 at 16.51 after closing yesterday at 15.14. Options on American Airlines Group Inc (AAL) have appeared on the most-active list today with more than 22,000 contracts of the Jan. 16 2026 5 put, changing hands. The put/call ratio is 0.97 (2,220,049)/(2,292,727). NYSE Adv/Dec (494/2,399). Nasdaq Adv/Dec (1,110/2,959).
[Argus Research, various news and data sources]
Turning to stocks, shares of Cisco (CSCO) are down after the announcement the company will purchase cybersecurity and data analytics firm Splunk (SPLK) for around $28 billion in cash. Shares of REIT W.P. Carey (WPC) fell today on the announcement the company will divest its office assets through a combination of a spin-off and direct sale of 146 office assets, accounting for roughly 15% of the company's annualized base rent. Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) are up slightly on the announcement the company will roll out an AI service called Copilot, which will be available to individual users on September 26 and with an enterprise version available November 1. The service aims to help users sift through, organize, and more efficiently interact with their data.
The S&P 500 is down 1.10%, the Dow is down 0.59%, the Nasdaq is down 1.30%, and the Russell 2000 is down 1.19%.
Industries trading higher today include: Air Freight & Logistics, Air Freight & Logistics, and Media. Industries trading lower today include: Industrial REITs, Construction Materials, and Communications Equipment.
The VIX is up 1.37 at 16.51 after closing yesterday at 15.14. Options on American Airlines Group Inc (AAL) have appeared on the most-active list today with more than 22,000 contracts of the Jan. 16 2026 5 put, changing hands. The put/call ratio is 0.97 (2,220,049)/(2,292,727). NYSE Adv/Dec (494/2,399). Nasdaq Adv/Dec (1,110/2,959).
[Argus Research, various news and data sources] less