#interest rates

#interest rates

as they not only pay a fat yield but can also deliver upside. Utility companies are not directly exposed to tariffs, while being exposed to tailwinds from the AI buildout. Plus, ongoing interest rate cuts are adding another incentive for investors to buy and hold these stocks. Treasury yields are set to trend lower as a result of these rate cuts, so investors are naturally gravitating towards high-yield stocks.

The gap between the richest and poorest Americans is widening in what Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has called a " bifurcated economy," as the cost of living skyrockets from housing to food prices, but wages for most workers remain stagnant. Basically, high-income individuals are doing well, while lower-income consumers are struggling more and more. That situation has sparked discussions about whether we're in a so-called "K-shaped economy."

Mortgage rates are down despite the fed. I mean, Scott, you've got to work on this guy. He's got some real mental problems. There's something wrong with him. Be honest. I would love to fire his ass. He should be fired. Guy is grossly incompetent. And he should be sued for spending $4 billion to build a little building. I'm building a ballroom that's going to cost a tiny fraction of that and it's bigger than the whole thing put together.

Some Lowe's customers are spending on relatively affordable improvements to their homes, CEO Marvin Ellison said on the retailer's third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday. Such purchases include water heaters, kitchen sinks, and windows, executives said on the call. Sales in those areas have also benefited as Lowe's has digitized more of its sales process and added new product selections in some categories, executives said.

After a brief pause in September, home sales across Canada picked back up again in October, rejoining the trend in place since April,

Challenger, Gray & Christmas that highlighted the fact that announced corporate layoffs in October jumped by more than 150,000, a 175% increase from the same month last year. It was the highest October increase since 2003. This is the highest total for October in over 20 years, and the highest total for a single month in the fourth quarter since 2008. Like in 2003, a disruptive technology is changing the landscape, the report said, pointing to AI as a major factor in the layoffs.

Following in the footsteps of David Solomon at Goldman Sachs and Jamie Dimon at JPMorgan, Ark Investments guru Cathie Wood recently warned of the potential for a reality check for the stock market after the massive Artificial Intelligence rally that has driven the major indices to all-time highs over the last three years. Of course, "Reality Check" is Wall Street word salad for a sell-off and a potential correction.

In the short term, risk appetite has strengthened thanks to recent progress in trade relations between the U.S. and Asian economies. President Donald Trump's visit to South Korea, and his expected meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his Asia tour, have helped ease concerns about potential tariff escalations. Markets are now hopeful that such a bilateral meeting could lay the groundwork for a large-scale investment package or a new trade agreement, thereby reducing the risk of prolonged trade frictions.