Current situation:
1. US inflation expectations have surged to 5.2%, 3-year high
2. The Russell 2000 is officially in a technical correction
3. US gas prices have risen nearly +45% in four months
4. Interest rate futures are now pricing-in potential rate HIKES
5. Gold prices are down -$1,000/oz from their record high
6. Mortgage rates have risen 50+ bps to new 2026 highs
We are witnessing colossal economic change on a daily basis.
Initial UI claims still very low at 205k, and continuing claims remain below 1.9 million; for all the news of layoffs and lousy jobs numbers, we're still not seeing this apparent weakness show up in unemployment claims:
Sales of new single-family houses in January 2026 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 587,000. This is 17.6% below the revised December 2025 estimate of 712,000.
🏠 https://t.co/1CX3c9yBAv
#CensusEconData#NewResidentialSales
EXPANDING ACCESS TO HOME LOANS: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to reduce regulatory burdens that have driven up mortgage costs, limited access for creditworthy borrowers, and weakened community bank participation in lending.
https://t.co/NvqoHScXKa
U.S. existing home sales total 257,000 in February 2026
Since 2000, February has averaged 310,000 U.S. existing home sales
Resale turnover remains constrained
Table via @ResidentialClub
Data via @nardotrealtor
Exclusive: The two largest real-estate brokerages have agreed to merge. Compass will acquire Anywhere, the parent of Century 21 and Coldwell Banker, for $1.6 billion. https://t.co/A89zwrRdeI
@mikesimonsen@AltosResearch Looking forward to see what’s next, Mike. I’m sure it’ll be interesting. I love the Advanced Analytics from @AltosResearch and use it almost every day.