What we’re reading (11/8)
“Hedge Funds Slash Risky Bets Ahead Of Midterms, CPI Data” (Bloomberg). “Fast-money traders are finding little to get excited about in a market where the S&P 500 has been stuck in a 200-point range in recent weeks. While seasonal patterns around midterm elections historically boded well for stocks, a strong grip by Democrats in Congress could raise the odds of fiscal measures, a move that’d further embolden a hawkish Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, the market’s big reversal following the last release of the consumer price index is enough reason to pause.”
“Redfin Survey: Housing Affordability Is On Voters’ Minds As They Head To The Polls” (Redfin News). “High mortgage rates, persistently high home prices, inflation, considering crime and LGBTQ protections in deciding where to live: Those are some of the housing-related issues on Americans’ minds as they head to the polls for 2022’s closely watched midterm elections. That’s according to an October Redfin survey of 2,000 U.S. residents.”
“Home Buyers Are Moving Farther Away Than Ever Before” (Wall Street Journal). “Buyers who purchased homes in the year ended in June moved a median of 50 miles from their previous residences, according to a National Association of Realtors survey released Thursday. That distance is the highest on record in annual data going back to 2005 and follows five straight years in which the median distance moved was constant at 15 miles, NAR said.”
“Mortgage Rates Too High? (Blame The Fed, Wall Street And Your Neighbor.)” (New York Times). “Since M.B.S. investors such as insurance companies expect interest rates to keep going up, they also expect people to stay in their homes longer, making them slower to prepay or refinance their mortgages. That changes investors’ calculations of the returns they expect on their holdings over a certain time frame. Rather than stick around, some investors sell the bonds in search of higher returns elsewhere. Others demand higher interest rates from lenders to compensate for the additional risk of holding mortgage bonds.”
“Binance Offers To Buy FTX’s Non-U.S. Operations To Fix ‘Liquidity Crunch’” (CNBC). “Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted Tuesday morning that ‘there is a significant liquidity crunch’ at FTX and that after FTX asked for Binance’s help, the company ‘signed a non-binding’ agreement with the intent ‘to fully acquire http://FTX.com and help cover the liquidity crunch.’ Zhao added that Binance, which was initially based in China but now claims no official headquarters, will be conducting full diligence in the coming days, and the firm has the discretion to pull out from the deal at any time. Sam Bankman-Fried confirmed the agreement in a tweet this morning.”
