Mortgage Rates Are on the Rise…Again
Plus oil reserves are opening up, crypto regulation is coming, and more
April 6th, 2022
Clint here, Editor-in-Chief of Investor Junkie. I’m in my second month here at Investor Junkie and this is my first newsletter.
Our editorial team has been hard at work behind-the-scenes trying to create the best possible content to inform your investing decisions. That said, if you have topics that you’d like us to cover, please let us know!
Moving forward, I plan to use these mid-week newsletters to (1) look back at some of the top highlights from the previous week and (2) look forward to some of the stories that we’ll be watching over the coming days.
And on certain newsletters (like today’s), I’ll include a bonus section that calls out some of the stories from around the internet that our own Investor Junkie team has found interesting, inspiring, or both.
Enjoy!
Clint, Editor-in-Chief
What Everyone’s Been Buzzing About
Mortgage rates continue to climb: Mortgage interest rates have now risen for three weeks in a row. As of March 31, 2022, the average 30-year mortgage had jumped to 4.67%. That’s the highest it’s been in over 3 years.
Elon Musk takes a huge stake in Twitter: On Monday April 4th, Yahoo Finance reported that Elon Musk had taken a 9.2% stake in Twitter, just days after he had publicly criticized the platform for its free speech principles. The news stoked speculation that Musk may be considering an eventual takeover of Twitter and caused the company’s shares to jump as high as 27% during Monday trading.
A marijiania legalization bill passes…but only in the House: The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Apr 1, 2022 to pass the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act. While that might sound like great news for investors in cannabis stocks the bigger picture is that the House has actually already passed this bill once before. It was shot down by the Senate the first time and is expected to suffer the same fate this time around. For now, expanding legalization is most likely to continue happening at the state levels.
More oil is on the way: On April 4th, President Biden announced the largest-ever release of federal oil reserves. Oil prices immediately fell as far as 13% on the news. Here’s to hoping that it doesn’t take long for those lower prices to reflect at the gas pump.
Crypto is under the federal microscope: A few weeks ago, the White House announced a crypto executive order that detailed a “whole-of-government approach to addressing the risks and harnessing the potential benefits of digital assets and their underlying technology.” While some crypto investors are worried about how new regulation could affect the budding industry, the order is ultimately an admission by the feds that digital assets are here to stay.
What To Keep Your Eye on This Week
Food industry earnings: With inflation reaching record highs, many shoppers may be turning to off-brand grocery products to save money. We’ll see if these financial pressures have had any meaningful impact on revenues for big brands like Conagra and Simply Good Foods as both companies report earnings this week.
Fed minutes: Minutes from the Fed’s March 15-16 meeting will be released this week and are expected to shed light on Fed chief Jerome Powell’s plans to gradually tighten the Fed’s balance sheet.
Inflation numbers: Next Monday and Tuesday, key inflation figures will be reported including the NY Fed median 1-year and 3-year expected inflation as well as the Consumer Price Index for March. Learn how to find inflation-proof investments >>>
Staff Favorites
Here are three articles that our team enjoyed reading this week and thought you might as well!
- Bringing Personal Finance to the Classroom for Generation Z (New York Times)
- The Man Behind Ethereum Is Worried About Crypto's Future (Time Magazine)
- Fallen Tech Titans Are Their Own TV Genre Now (Wall Street Journal)
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