Tax Reform Follow Up: On December 22, 2017, the President signed the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” into law after the bill pushed its way through the House and Senate in an expedited procedure known as the “budget reconciliation” process. By implementing this process, the GOP was able to avoid filibusters from Congressional Democrats and only needed to secure a simple majority vote in the Senate rather than the standard 60 votes. Given that the Republicans currently control 241 seats in the House and 52 seats in the Senate, the GOP was able to secure a clear path to a major legislative victory for the Trump administration…

U.S. Housing Market with a Closer Look at Dallas: After 6 years of steady improvement for home builder optimism, we are finally starting to see some significant pull back from 2017 highs. This data is supported by declines in profitability for home builders due to higher costs and declines in prospective buyer traffic. As a result, housing starts and building permits have seen a dip as well. On the buyer side, as interest rates continue to rise, houses will become less affordable, thus allowing less buyers to even participate in the market. We are already seeing these effects in real and expected home sale data and surveys. Part of our analysis of the US home market will include a close look at the Dallas, Texas market which fared well in the last downturn, but was featured in a recent WSJ article that called it a “canary in the mine shaft.”…

Key Economic News: Debt Limit and Government Funding Follow Up: In early September, the Republican-led Senate approved legislation to raise the debt limit, secure funding to avoid a government shutdown. Yet, an early December government shutdown is a real possibility, since a divided Congress is struggling to agree on military spending, Democrats insist on providing assistance for young immigrants, and President Donald Trump's position tends to change with each lawmaker he speaks with…

Key Economic News: The Debt Limit, Government Funding, and Disaster Aid: In early September, the Republican-led Senate approved legislation to raise the debt limit, secure funding to avoid a government shutdown, and provide $15 billion in disaster aid for hurricane victims. Republican leaders such as Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan were aiming for a longer-term extension on the debt limit, but were caught off-guard when Trump began to side with top Democratic leaders such as Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi…

Key Economic News: Debt Ceiling Raise: Secretary Mnuchin has asked for Congress to raise the debt limit by Sept. 29, otherwise the government will have issues paying for social security, military salaries, tax refunds, interest on treasury securities, Medicare/Medicaid, and much more…

Key Economic News: Markets have hit record highs throughout July, U.S. banks reported strong earnings, but consumer spending has begun to show some fractures. Our Take Away: Previous management flip-flopped on taking a clear bullish or bearish stance on the market, however, this new team’s stance is that the steam hasn’t run out just yet. There’s still some room left to run in what has been a resilient market, but rallies do not last forever. Overall sentiment from our analysis: Bullish, but plateauing…