#interest-rates

#interest-rates

The Schwab U.S. Small-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:SCHA) has delivered a 5.5% return YTD, tracking the broader small-cap market's trajectory. The fund's defining advantage is cost efficiency, at a scant 0.04% annual expense ratio ranks among the lowest in the small-cap category, allowing investors to compound returns without significant fee drag eating into performance over time. Recent coverage has been mixed. MSN positioned SCHA as an "attractive option" given its low costs and past performance.

The Bank of England is widely expected to keep interest rates on hold this week after inflation rose for the first time in five months, although markets believe the door remains open to a cut later in the spring. Analysts expect the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to vote to maintain the base rate at 3.75 per cent when it announces its decision on Thursday.

It has been trading sideways since 2023 due to a variety of issues. Namely, interest rates have been too high, and this hasn't given REITs the room to recover. Remember, REITs are businesses with high debt loads and high interest rates, which puts disproportionate pressure on them. However, these REITs have been able to avert the worst. They've drawn lessons from 2008, and most of them have paid growing dividends in the past couple of years and have even expanded them.

Dutta tells Axios: "I don't think people should change their investment plans around Warsh. The Fed is bigger than any one person. At the margin, Warsh represents a bit of uncertainty." One concern is that Warsh will cut interest rates now to appease Trump even if lower rates aren't warranted, which could result in the need for increases later on.

Bitcoin hovered near $89,000 on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve opted to hold interest rates steady, pausing its rate-cutting cycle and striking a notably calmer tone on inflation and the labor market. The bitcoin price traded above $90,000 earlier in the session before slipping to around $89,500 as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell spoke at his post-meeting press conference. The move came after the Fed announced it would keep its benchmark federal funds rate unchanged at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%,

"Gold heads for best week since 2008" is not exactly a headline that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but such is the present state of the American economy. Silver is running hard too, rocketing above $100 an ounce for the first time ever this week. We are in a brave new world where the rules of the old one no longer apply, and the Illuminati on Wall Street have spent the last year realizing this.

has shown that the stock has the ability to defy gravity, even though the underlying business may not be humming like it used to. Shareholders refuse to budge and are willing to back up the truck as long as Elon Musk has promises to make. It has so far proved all the bears wrong and has climbed well above its 2021 peak. Sales growth has slowed down considerably, and profits are in reverse.

Well, Maria, Jerome Too Late, Powell' he's the one that's made this political, Marshall replied, using Trump's nickname for Powell. He continued: You go back to the last presidential election, right before the election, he drops the interest rates. Do we even need a new federal building? It was budgeted under $2 billion. It's $2.5 billion. I think this president's sending a message to everybody that we're going to be looking out for fraud, waste, and abuse.

Yes, it would have to be rates for some reason or other jumping up. I find that remarkably unlikely. I don't think that would happen. Price growth jumping to a point whereby affordability declines further? I don't see that happening either. So I think all in all, modest improvement across the board is one that is the most likely scenario.

The biggest macro factor affecting DGRO in 2026 is the Federal Reserve's rate-cutting trajectory. After holding rates elevated through much of 2025, the Fed resumed cuts in September. Lower rates typically benefit dividend growth stocks by reducing competition from Treasury yields and lowering borrowing costs for growth-oriented companies DGRO favors. Watch the Federal Reserve's statements following each Federal Open Market Committee meeting, typically held eight times per year.

Hard-earned funds are getting more and more squeezed, and that must be a cause for concern. People who have done the right thing-saved consistently and planned carefully-are finding that their money simply doesn't stretch as far as they expected.