June 3, 2014 Real Estate Report - The Relationship Between Stocks and Rates

There is an obvious relationship between the movement of stocks and interest rates. When the economy is doing better, stocks should also improve. This same stronger economy increases inflationary pressures which causes interest rates to rise. In addition, when stocks are doing well, more investors put their money in the stock market as opposed to bonds. So, on days that stocks are doing well, interest rates are increasing which means that bonds are not doing so well. Seems simple, right? Look over the past five years and it is not so simple. For the past five years stocks have done very well as rates have stayed low. What was the cause? The precipitous drop in the stock market during the recession was a factor as much of this bull market is a rebound. Rates have stayed so low during the tepid recovery because the recovery has not been strong enough and there have been no inflationary pressures. In other words, day-to-day you are likely to see stocks rise and an increase in rates, but sometimes long-term trends paint another picture. Why is this important? Long-term trends don't last forever. If the economic recovery heats up from here, we could see rates rise and perhaps stocks will get stronger or perhaps they will fall because investors believe higher rates will stall the recovery. Many think that the pop in rates we had late last year was a partial cause of a slower economy this year, especially with regard to real estate. So if you want to know what rates are doing, stocks are not the only factor. Watch economic reports such as the jobs data we have coming out this week. Full employment would translate into inflationary pressures. However, we are a long, long way away from full employment. Keith Stewart 773-529-7000