Markets with Megan: A Quick Financial Markets Update

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at its October meeting, but with inflation continuing to climb, is the Fed doing enough? In today's Markets with Megan, Verdence Capital Advisors CIO Megan Horneman breaks down the Fed's latest interest rate decision, the surprisingly restrained tone from the Fed Chairman, and why rising inflation could force more aggressive action in Decemb...

Housing data came in well below expectations this week. Housing starts fell 5.2% when markets expected an increase, and pending home sales dropped 7.3% to a record low. Megan Horneman, CIO of Verdence Capital Advisors, breaks down the numbers and what is driving the slowdown in the housing market. Mortgage rates ended September at 7.3%, the highest in three years, and home builders are dealing wit...

Inflation is heating up, consumer spending is showing signs of weakness, and the Federal Reserve faces another difficult decision. Could another interest rate hike be coming before the end of 2026? Chief Investment Officer Megan Horneman discusses the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI), Producer Price Index (PPI), and retail sales report, and what they could mean for the economy, stock market, and...

The September ISM Services Report showed the service sector, where Americans spend most of their money, ending the third quarter on a softer note. Megan Horneman explains why business activity and new orders slipped while the prices paid component jumped to its highest level since July 2022. Supply chain pressure tied to the war with Iran, along with tariffs and high fuel costs, is showing up in i...

The September jobs report came in much weaker than expected, and it could change the Federal Reserve’s next move. The U.S. economy added just 29,000 jobs in September, while the prior two months were revised lower by roughly 60,000 jobs. Unemployment ticked up to 4.2%, labor force participation increased, and wage growth came in around 3% year over year. So what does all of this mean for interest...

The Fed is getting mixed signals. This week’s economic data showed a cooling labor market, stubborn inflation, and renewed price pressures in manufacturing, all while the odds of an October rate hike have fallen sharply. In this episode of Markets with Megan, Megan Horneman breaks down the latest JOLTS report, PCE inflation, ISM manufacturing data, and what they could mean for the Fed’s next move....

AI-related capital spending continues to support the U.S. economy, and the latest durable goods report reveals surprising strength beneath the headline numbers. But could stronger economic growth give the Federal Reserve another reason to raise interest rates? In today's Markets with Megan, Verdence Capital Advisors CIO Megan Horneman reviews August's durable goods orders, the surge in b...

Retail sales just flipped the script: after a weak July, August comes in with a sharp rebound, and the details matter if you care about where the U.S. economy is headed. We walk through the August retail sales report and why a 1.2% monthly gain grabs market attention, especially with gasoline station sales up 3.1% and “core” spending measures also showing strength. If you’ve been wondering whether...

Inflation came in hotter than expected, and the latest CPI report may have strengthened the case for a Fed rate hike next week. In this episode of Markets with Megan, Megan Horneman dissects the latest inflation data, including rising energy costs, hotter core CPI, and continued pressure on American households. She also explains why markets are rallying even as the odds of a Fed hike rise, and wha...

Inflation came in as expected. The problem? “As expected” is still too hot. The latest Producer Price Index showed inflation pressures continuing to build: 📈 Headline PPI: +5.4% year over year 📈 PPI excluding food, energy and trade: +4.7% ✈️ Airline prices: nearly +20% year over year ⚖️ Legal services: about +8% 🏥 Hospital inpatient care: +4.3% Those details matter because several feed into the...

The August jobs report landed well above expectations, and it's the last one the Fed will see before its September meeting. The U.S. economy added 162,000 jobs last month against a forecast of just 55,000, with construction, AI-related hiring, and government payrolls all contributing. Megan Horneman breaks down what a beat this size means for interest rate policy. Wages grew three-tenths of a...

The ISM Services Index ticked up in August, and the report's prices paid component jumped to its highest level since August 2022, back when the economy was still digging out of the post-pandemic inflation spike. Megan breaks down what's behind the rise in service sector activity and why the pricing data is worth watching heading into the Fed's next move. In this episode, Megan cover...

Federal Reserve Chairman Warsh delivered a notably hawkish speech at this year's Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, and it has real implications for where interest rates go next. Hear what he said about inflation, the labor market, and why the Fed isn't backing off even after a few better-than-expected readings this summer. Inflation has stayed above the Fed's 2% target for more than...

The July PCE inflation report came in hotter than expected, with the Fed's preferred inflation gauge rising 0.2% month over month against a forecast of just 0.1%. Core PCE now sits at 3.3% year over year, unchanged from the prior month but still well above the Fed's 2% target. Megan breaks down what the data actually shows beneath the headlines. This matters because the Fed chairman spea...

The Federal Reserve released the minutes from its July meeting, and Megan breaks down what they actually reveal about the committee's thinking heading into September. The minutes show risks to employment and growth skewed to the downside, while inflation risk is still seen as tilted to the upside, even with a general upbeat tone on the economy overall. A few committee members already favored...

Today's data on the consumer wasn't good. July retail sales fell 0.3%, missing expectations for a 0.2% gain, following a decline the month before. Megan Horneman breaks down what's behind the pullback and why the control group number, which feeds directly into GDP, matters even more than the headline. In this episode: - Why July retail sales fell 0.3% instead of rising as expected -...

July's Consumer Price Index is in, and markets are cheering. Headline CPI rose 0.1% for the month and 3.5% year-over-year, while core CPI came in at 0.2% monthly and 2.5% annually. Both numbers landed right where economists expected, and both ticked slightly lower than June. But as Megan explains, "as expected" isn't the same as "good news." In this episode, Megan cov...

The July NFIB Small Business Optimism Index just came in better than expected and it's now at its highest level since August 2025. Understand why this report matters, especially since small businesses make up nearly half of the private sector labor force. Underneath the headline number, the details tell an interesting story. Job openings, hiring plans, and capital expenditure intentions all j...

The July jobs report landed with a surprise this morning, and it wasn't the good kind. Economists expected the U.S. economy to add 80,000 jobs. Instead, it lost 23,000, and the prior two months were revised lower. Megan breaks down what happened underneath that headline number and what it means for the Fed's next move. Here's the part that confuses a lot of people: the unemployment...

The July ISM Services report is in, and it's giving the Fed a mixed signal ahead of its September rate decision. Megan Horneman breaks down why the headline number came in slightly below expectations, what eased supply chain pressures actually tell us, and why the prices paid component just jumped back above 70 for the fourth time in five months. At the same time, the employment component fel...

June retail sales came in close to expectations, with headline growth slowing to 0.2% as gasoline station sales pulled the number down. But strip out food, energy and building materials, and the control group grew 0.5% on the month and is running at a 9.2% annualized pace over the past three months. Megan breaks down what that split actually tells us about the consumer. In this episode, Megan cove...

The Producer Price Index for June came in much better than expected, with the headline number falling 0.3% instead of holding flat, the biggest monthly decline since October 2023. So what drove the drop? How does it compare to yesterday's CPI report? Why does the softer core reading still leave the Fed with a decision to make? This matters right now because the Fed is weighing whether to hold...

This week's June CPI report brought a surprise most analysts did not expect. Headline inflation fell 0.4% on a month over month basis, driven almost entirely by a sharp drop in energy and commodity prices. On a year over year basis, headline inflation is still running at 3.5%, but that's down meaningfully from 4.2% a year ago. The timing matters. The Fed's new chairman is testifying...

With markets hitting record highs and a tentative U.S.-Iran ceasefire in place, investors are sitting with a lot of open questions heading into the second half of 2026. In this episode, Megan Horneman works through the five questions she's hearing most from investors right now, from energy prices to Fed policy to what Q2 earnings season might reveal. - What the U.S.-Iran interim ceasefire mea...

The Fed didn’t raise rates, but the meeting still packed a punch and markets felt it immediately. We break down the first decision under new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh and why a “no change” outcome can still read as hawkish when the inflation outlook shifts and the Fed changes how it communicates. If you care about interest rates, inflation, bond yields, and what gets priced into markets ne...