"For the merchant, even honesty is a financial speculation." - Charles Baudelaire
It is hard to believe summer and the third quarter are rapidly coming to an end. The market has delivered solid gains here in the third stanza of 2016 so far. The worries that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates at their meeting this week that caused equities to sell-off some three percent on September 9th proved to be overblown. The central bank once again kicked the can down the road and past the upcoming presidential election as I expected they would although they had three "dissents" this time around.
I expect housing, which is the second most weighted component in my portfolio will continue to advance in a two step forward/one step back fashion as it has throughout this year. Mortgage rates remain near historical lows, job growth is solid but not spectacular and housing starts are still way below their averages of the past 40 years. In addition, both presidential candidates will want a strengthening housing sector given it is a huge job creator.
