Weekly Talking Points for Financial Advisors (10/9/23)

Read the highlights of this week's commentary from Helios:

• The combined headwinds of increasing bond yields, a rising dollar, and higher oil prices have intensified pressures on the stock market. Despite a rally on Friday, more than a third of the S&P 500's growth this year has been wiped out; however, it remains up over 13% for the year.
• Bank of America recently accessed US bond market records from the nation's inception, uncovering a unique three-year stretch of bond losses rivaling the dot-com bust and the 1987 crash. They also discovered that 2008-2020 had the lowest global interest rates in 5,000 years.
• The 30-year fixed mortgage rate has now exceeded 7.5%, compared with about 3% in 2021, translating to roughly $1,400 extra in monthly payments on a $500,000 mortgage.
• The labor market continues to outpace expectations, with September's nonfarm payrolls surging by 336K, exceeding estimates by over 90%. The resilient labor market may prompt the Fed to hike interest rates again before year's end, which are already at a 22-year high.