First and foremost, I want to say Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. As a son and husband, I can unequivocally say that moms make the world go round. Moms are caretakers, planners, doers, employees, chefs, shuttle service, and teachers all in one. Needless to say, without moms, life would be tough, so thank you to all the moms who do these things every day, without always getting the recognition they deserve.
Moving on to some financial news, it was a relatively quiet week, where there was a setup for some potential fireworks. The most likely source of fireworks was going to be from the Federal Reserve meeting. However, it was status quo from the group. They decided to hold interest rates at the current range of 4.25%-4.50%, with little in the way of guidance on what it will take to see cuts or when they may be coming.
The other possible landmine was the White House announcement of the trade agreement with the United Kingdom. And while the announcement was less of a “deal” and more of a framework, the initial market reactions were positive. The arrangement would create some exemptions or reductions for steel, the automotive sector, and agricultural products. Outside of these, the blanket 10% tariff on U.K. exports to the U.S. would remain.
Given the lack of earth-shattering news (which was welcome for a change), please enjoy some interesting facts and figures we’ve encountered in the last few weeks.
College on Sale. College tuition has increased 899% since 1983, compared to an overall inflation rate of 225%. However, annual tuition and fees to attend a four-year private school have fallen 5.8% since peaking at $44,120 in 2020 (to $41,540 in 2024). College costs are down even more at four-year public schools (-9.8%) from $12,490 in 2020 to $11,260 in 2024. (Source: CNBC)
Teach Them Better. Despite nearly half of high school students (45%) saying they took a personal finance class in school, 80% of teens have either never heard of a FICO score or fully understand what it measures. Meanwhile, 43% of teens believe that an 18% interest rate on debt is manageable. (Source: Junior Achievement)
Double-Digit Declines. The first quarter of 2025 was just the seventh time in the Nasdaq’s history that it finished the quarter down by over 10% after being up at least 3%. After the six prior occurrences, the Nasdaq was higher in the next quarter and next year, with average gains of 19.7% and 42.6%, respectively. (Source: Bespoke)
Market Cap Madness. From the S&P 500’s peak on 2/19 to its close on April 8th, the ten largest stocks in the index lost $5.1 trillion in market cap, including $1+ trillion drops for Apple (AAPL) and NVIDIA (NVDA). On 4/9, when the index jumped 9.5%, the ten largest gained back $2.1 trillion. (Source: Bloomberg)
Deflation. Headline U.S. CPI fell 0.1% month-over-month in March, which broke a streak of 57 months without a negative print dating back to May 2020. Year-over-year core CPI also fell below 3% for the first time in 47 months, dating back to March 2021. (Source: BLS)
Mom & Dad, Where’s My Allowance? 50% of U.S. parents with a child above 18 provide them with some financial support, and they spend an average of $1,474 monthly. 83% of those parents who support their children chip in for groceries, and 46% help pay for vacations. (Source: Savings.com)
Markets / Economy
- Markets moved in a more controlled manner, the first time since the Liberation Day lows, ending up little changed for the week. The S&P finished down -0.5%, the Nasdaq was down -0.3%, and the small-cap Russell 2000 was up 0.1%.
- ISM Services PMI unexpectedly jumped to 51.6 in April from a nine-month low of 50.8 in March and above forecasts of 50.6.
- Initial jobless claims fell by 13K to 228K on the week ending May 3rd, slightly below market expectations of 230K, to mark a sharp contrast from the two-month high from the previous week.
Stocks
- U.S. equities were in negative territory. Healthcare and Consumer Staples led the decline, while Industrials and Utilities outperformed. Growth stocks led value stocks, and small caps beat large caps.
- International equities closed lower for the week. Developed markets fared better than emerging markets.
Bonds
- The 10-year Treasury bond yield increased five basis points to 4.38% during the week.
- U.S. bond markets were in negative territory this week, while International bond markets were positive.
- High-yield bonds led for the week, followed by corporate bonds and government bonds.
