FRI News and Press, First Trust S&P REIT Index Fund From 02/05/23

Summary U.S. equity markets extended their rebound this week after the Federal Reserve slowed its pace of interest rate hikes while strong employment data alongside cooling wage pressures supported "soft landing" prospects. Gaining for the fourth week in the past five, the S&P 500 a...

Summary A deep dive into the gritty data and formulas of the vacancy rates by the Census Bureau. The Census Bureau estimated that in Q4 2022, the rental vacancy rate dipped to 5.8% and that the homeowner housing vacancy rate dipped to 0.8%, matching the record low earlier in 2022. T...

Summary The housing/construction sector is dragging strongly on economic growth. Right now, only the single-family market is dragging on growth. The downturn in multi-family and residential remodeling construction is still on the way. Leading indicators of housing/construction have ...

The two firms will bring advanced decision management and mathematical optimization technology to multiple industries Global analytics software provider FICO today announced a partnership with FPG Technologies & Solutions LTD, a member of FlexiP Group, to bring advanced decision man...

Summary The composite and national indices all fell month-over-month (m/m) for the fifth month in a row, but the year-over-year (y/y) change in prices is still running at +6% or more. Looking at different parts of the country, cities in the West fell the most m/m with declines of more t...

Summary The key feature of bubble symmetry is the entire bubble retraces in roughly the same time frame as it took to soar to absurd heights. At the peak and for some time after, bubbles are viewed as the natural order of markets and so they should continue expanding forever. But th...

Summary Has the heyday for office real estate passed? How a recession may impact commercial real estate. Why Asia is an outlier when it comes to returning to the office. Pandemic restrictions have mostly been lifted, but the rush to return to the office may not h...

Summary The surge in mortgage rates has resulted in a steep drop in home buyer demand while supply of homes for sales is on a gradual rise. As a result, home prices are now falling in every major city. With house price-to-incomes ratios remaining stretched by historical standards, f...

Summary Real estate earnings season kicks into gear this week, and over the next month, we'll hear results from 175 equity REITs, 40 mortgage REITs, and dozens of housing industry companies. REITs enter earnings season with some momentum amid the recent moderation in interest rates and ...

Summary U.S. equity markets resumed their rebound this past week as investors parsed a busy slate of corporate earnings results and economic data ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate hike decision. Gaining for the third week in the past four, the S&P 500 advanced 2.5% on the week whi...