Good morning, you're listening to Markets Desk, and here's what's moving right now.
Traders are pricing in a significantly higher probability of a Federal Reserve rate hike at next week's meeting, with morning action pushing those odds to seventy percent. That's a meaningful shift in expectations, and it's the kind of repricing that tends to ripple through equities, bonds, and the dollar simultaneously, so watch all three closely heading into the decision.
Turning to housing, existing home sales have dropped to their lowest level in fourteen months, and the paradox here is striking — inventory has climbed to a nearly seven-year high, yet buyers simply aren't showing up. Affordability remains the culprit, with elevated mortgage rates keeping would-be purchasers on the sidelines even as supply builds.
And on the political economy front, President Trump has floated the idea of direct cash payments to Americans for the fourth time, a proposal being called the so-called Trump Dividend. Critics are raising legal questions around voter coercion, and notably, not a single check has ever been issued despite repeated promises, leaving the policy firmly in the realm of rhetoric for now.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
