In this week's Market Minutes recap, hear from our team of investment experts as they share their perspectives on the latest market and economic activity. Our panel shares detailed insights into the JOLTS report, the Case-Shiller, the Employment Cost Index, the Employment Situation Summary, the recent FOMC meeting, and the VIX index. 

Speakers: 
Brian Pietrangelo, Managing Director of Investment Strategy
Cindy Honcharenko, Director of Fixed Income Portfolio Management
George Mateyo, Chief Investment Officer
Rajeev Sharma, Head of Fixed Income
Stephen Hoedt, Head of Equities

01:16 – The job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) reported the amount of job openings remained unchanged as 8.2 million for June

01:33 – The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller reported 5.9% annual of gains for May. This continues to support that home sale demand is high, however the inventory of homes is low

01:58 – The Employment Cost Index measured wages and salaries increased to 4.2% in June 

02:36 – The Employment Situation Summary showed unemployment increased to 4.3% for July 

03:35 – The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) met Wednesday and decided to leave rates unchanged at 5.25% – 5.5%. While the economic outlook is uncertain, Fed Chair Powell didn’t directly use language that hinted towards there may or may not be a rate cut in soon

06:48 – The Fed seems to have inflation close to their intended target of 2%, now it seems their focus will soon shift from inflation to prioritizing normalization within the labor market

09:25 – Comments on the Fed, and that the market anticipates two to three rates cuts by the end of the year due to the release of recent labor reports 

14:03 – Comments on the stock market and highlighting the VIX index spiking to 24.5% signaling the economy getting back to a more normal volatility market 

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