| Last week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren asked Fed Chair Jerome Powell to reduce the "astronomical rates." I'm not sure which planet she's on, but I know it's not the one that's between Venus and Mars. I get it. It's an election year, housing is extremely expensive these days and Warren historically fights for disenfranchised consumers who can't afford housing. But let's put rates in context. This is a chart of the federal funds rate over the past 70 years. Do our current rates really look astronomical? The historical average is 5.42%, and the current range is 5.25% to 5.50%. So we're right in line with where we've been historically. Furthermore, there were 9 million job openings in December, up from 8.9 million in November. Prior to the pandemic, there had never been 8 million jobs available in a month. In January, employers added 353,000 jobs. That's a big number, and it's an increase from December's 333,000. Wages are also up 4.5% over last year. And corporate earnings are expected to have grown 4.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023, while fourth quarter GDP was a robust 3.3%. So we're not exactly teetering on the brink of a recession. But rates could certainly change. As you can see in the chart above, big spikes have often been followed by quick moves lower, as the Fed has a habit of overdoing it both when it raises rates and when it lowers them. (This has actually created an exciting opportunity for us, though... stay tuned for more on that next week.) | 
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