U.S. stock markets commenced trading on Friday, December 19, 2025, with major indexes opening higher, signaling a positive end to what has been a volatile week. This uplift follows a robust performance on Thursday, driven by cooler-than-expected inflation data for November, which has reignited hopes for potential Federal Reserve rate cuts in the new year. Today's trading is also marked by "quadruple witching," an event that could introduce significant volatility as a record volume of options contracts expir ...

The average national rate on a home equity line of credit has fallen with each of the Federal Reserve's three quarter-point rate cuts this year, and is slipping ever closer to 7%. HELOC rates: Friday, December 19, 2025 According to Curinos data, the average weekly HELOC rate is 7.44%. This rate is based on applicants with a minimum credit score of 780 and a maximum combined loan-to-value ratio (CLTV) of 70%. Homeowners have an impressive amount of value tied up in their houses — nearly $36 trillion at ...

Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Market frustration with the November Consumer Price Index is not about how low inflation printed. It’s about whether the number can be trusted at all. The report showed that annual CPI inflation slowed to 2.7% in November from 3% in September. Indeed, this reinforces President Trump’s narrative that inflation is “essentially gone.” Yet economists and inflation watchers argue that the figure was mechanica ...

The S&P 500 appears poised to snap a four-day losing streak on Thursday as unexpectedly cooler inflation data reignited hopes for Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2026. The rebound was turbocharged by Mic... ...

行业趋势与价格展望 - 汽车制造商可能在2026年之前放缓价格上涨步伐 [1] - 预计2026年家庭购车数量将比2025年减少2%至3% [2] - 车辆价格预计至少将恢复到加征关税前的趋势 大部分上涨将发生在未来四个月内 而2026年下半年价格涨幅将更为温和 [5] - 2026款车型的价格通胀一直高于历史标准 这些车型约占当前新车供应的60% [6] - 价格本身最多只能温和增长 汽车购买力自2023年以来一直在改善 [3][6] 消费者购买力与负担能力 - 到2026年底 购买新车可能会稍微更负担得起 主要因借贷成本下降和新的税收优惠生效 [1][7] - 自疫情以来汽车价格上涨了约9% 使许多美国人对价格感到不适 [2] - 目前平均月供占收入中位数的12.8% 预计到2026年第四季度可能降至12.3% [6] - 对于低收入家庭而言 购买新车仍然负担不起 新的税收减免将支持中等收入家庭的销售 而财富增长将支撑高收入家庭的汽车支出 [7][8] 具体数据与市场现状 - 11月新车平均价格约为49,800美元 较上年同期上涨约1% 而价格通常每年上涨约3% [4] - 制造商最近限制了价格上涨 但预计不会长期吸收关税成本 [4] - 新的税收优惠可能为典型消费者每月节省约50美元 [5] - 购买力改善需要时间才能影响消费者的心理 尽管有所改善 消费者对购车时机的评估仍然悲观 [3] 政策与金融因素 - 美联储降息可能“大幅”降低利率 [5] - 新的税收减免适用于年收入高达150,000美元的家庭 对年收入高达100,000美元的家庭最为显著 [3] - 购买在美国组装的汽车并通过贷款融资的消费者可能获得相对较大的退税 [5] - 负担能力估算基于平均新车价格 并假设买家支付15%的首付和66个月的贷款期 [6]

Diane, how would you describe uh this. Is it abnormal. Is it funky.Are we just in a waiting period of transition. What What do you say is going on here. >> Well, it certainly is an early chill for the holiday season, but I think you know consumers are still spending, which is ironic.The core retail sales, which goes into the GDP calculation for the retail sales data, actually was up 0.9%. So much better than that headline figure suggested. and data for September and August were revised up.So, we came into t ...

Al Drago / Bloomberg via Getty Images Federal Reserve policy committee members, including Chair Jerome Powell, have been waiting for more up-to-date data on the labor market. Key Takeaways The uptick in unemployment in November shows that the Federal Reserve was justified in cutting interest rates earlier in the year, economists said. The Fed is expected to pause its rate-cutting campaign in January to assess the impact of cuts so far, but the poor jobs report kept a January cut on the table. The Fed ...

U.S. Treasury yields declined in early trading, with coming key U.S. economic data expected to show further weakness in the labor market.In particular, employment figures are due Tuesday, followed by CPI data on Thursday, with labor-market data likely leaving the door open for Federal Reserve rate cuts next year."In our view, the FOMC has room to deliver the 50 basis points of easing priced in by Fed funds futures over the next 12 months," Brown Brothers Harriman's Elias Haddad said in a note. ...

美联储内部政策分歧 - 美联储官员对2026年利率路径存在显著分歧 19位政策制定者的预测中值显示2026年仅有一次降息 但这掩盖了巨大的个体预测差异 [1] - 具体而言 7名官员倾向于在2026年不降息 构成一个规模可观的鹰派阵营 8名官员预计最多降息两次 4名官员则考虑更激进的行动 [2] - 新的经济数据将决定哪一阵营能占上风 这些数据包括因政府停摆而延迟发布的一些报告 [2] - 美联储内部的这种分歧预示着围绕借贷成本的不确定性正在增加 并正在塑造消费者、企业和投资者的预期 [4] 美联储领导层更迭与政策影响 - 美联储主席杰罗姆·鲍威尔的四年任期将于明年5月结束 这给了总统唐纳德·特朗普提名继任者的机会 [4] - 特朗普长期希望大幅降低利率 他提名的下一任美联储主席很可能认同这些观点 即使不完全赞同特朗普的看法 [5] - 然而 新任主席将需要在一个拥有强大鹰派阵营的19人委员会中开展工作 其将很难推动委员会成员同意进一步降息 [6] 近期货币政策行动与利率水平 - 美联储在周三宣布降息25个基点 这是今年以来的第三次降息 使联邦基金利率目标区间降至3.5%至3.75% [6] - 当前利率已从2023年近期峰值5.25%至5.50%下降 [6] - 分析师普遍预期美联储将在1月暂停降息 但预计央行将在今年晚些时候继续降息 [16] - 富国银行经济学家指出 美联储仍“保持宽松倾向” 并可能在3月和6月再次各降息25个基点 [17] 经济与通胀展望 - 美联储官员对2026年经济持更乐观看法 其预测中值显示2026年实际GDP增长率为2.3% 显著高于9月份预测的1.8% 尽管他们预计2025年GDP增长将有些疲软 为1.7% [7] - 鲍威尔将更乐观的预测归因于“有韧性的”消费者支出、数据中心投资以及2026年财政政策仍将“具有支持性” [8] - 美联储官员预计通胀将继续向2%的目标回落 且速度略快于9月份的预测 [11] - 预测显示 美联储偏爱的通胀指标可能在2026年放缓至2.5% 略好于9月份预测的2.6% [12] 劳动力市场预期 - 美联储官员未看到就业市场出现重大疲软迹象 他们预计失业率到年底将升至4.5% 较9月份预测的4.4%略有上升 但预测失业率到2026年底将回落至4.4% [11] 政策制定中的分歧与张力 - 在最近的FOMC会议上 有三名官员投了反对票 其中美联储理事斯蒂芬·米兰（特朗普最新任命）反对降息行动并希望更大幅度降息 另外两名持异议者则认为美联储应维持利率不变 [13] - 但分歧比投票结果显示的更为明显 预测显示有六名官员同意维持利率不变的鹰派观点 即使他们没有投票支持该观点 [14] - 鲍威尔指出 美联储在实现充分就业和物价稳定这两个目标之间存在“一些张力” 这种张力是美联储内部比以往更加分裂的关键因素 [18][19] - 所有FOMC成员都同意通胀过高需要降低 也同意劳动力市场已经疲软且存在进一步风险 分歧在于官员们更看重哪种风险 以及新数据如何改变他们的判断 [20]

Jerome Powell gave the keynote address in Jackson Hole.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images This post originally appeared in the Business Insider Today newsletter. You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here. The Federal Reserve did what everyone thought it would do. Don't get used to it. The central bank cut rates for the third time this year. BI's economy team broke down the announcement and answered your questions. BI's Allie Kelly also has a recap on what the latest rate cut means for ...