Yesterday was a bit of a bloodbath in the markets as a story on CNBC about the suspension of all tariffs except on Chinese goods caused a three trillion dollar surge in S&P evaluation. When the rumor was later denied by the White House, the stock gains were knocked down by 83%. Bonds on the other hand got kicked in the balls at the opening bell and never recovered, giving back about two weeks worth of gains and sending mortgage rates up 1/4%. MBS pricing has settled in this morning between the 50 and 200 day moving averages which will hopefully act as a trampoline to allow them to rebound, consequently letting interest rates settle back down.
The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index fell to a five month low today, which was not expected. Only 12% of small businesses surveyed in the study indicated that they have any plan to onboard new hires in the next quarter. Of the small business owners polled, only 21% expect the economy to improve this year. That sentiment was at 52% at the start of 2025. Tariffs have clearly been the catalyst for the attitude adjustment and the extreme volatility in the financial markets.
CoreLogic underwent a name change to the one-letter-shorter moniker “Cotality” last week. Cotality says that home prices are up 2.9% over the last year, which is down from last month’s 3.3%. They plan on making it up to us by saying that over the next 12 months, prices will rise 4.2%. That will send the average price in Utah up about $22,000 from $566,400 to $588,400.
