The confidence gap between stockholders and everyone else If you’ve noticed that some people sound much more upbeat about the economy than others, there’s a reason. Recent reporting from The Wall Street Journal   suggests that most of the optimism comes from households that own stocks . Market gains—especially from technology and AI companies—have lifted portfolio values and, with them, confidence. Households without meaningful stock exposure are seeing a different picture. R

A Surprising Signal from the Atlanta Fed The Atlanta Federal Reserve's GDPNow model , a real-time tracker of U.S. economic growth that gets updated automatically, has just given its U.S. economic growth outlook a big bump. The model's Q3 2025 estimate has jumped to 4.0%  — that’s an annualized number — up from 3.9% just a week ago and a full percentage point above the Blue Chip consensus forecast of around 2.5%  [1]. This wasn’t a one-off either. It’s largely because of stron

Here at Halter Ferguson Financial, when rates start to drop, we pay attention—because your financial plan should too. Recently, key policy rates have begun to move downward, and that shift affects both borrowers and  savers (yes, even the ones who want to earn interest). Below, we walk through why rates are dropping , what it means for you , and what to review with your advisor . What’s Happening With Interest Rates In short: the Fed has begun cutting its benchmark policy rat

What's Behind The Change in Rates, & Why Bother Refinancing Now? Rates are slowly dropping off those recent highs, but volatility still rules the day. If you bought or refinanced during the late peak-rate window, you've got a tough call ahead: take advantage of today's lower rates or wait for possibly even better deals. What you do depends on some basic math, how long you expect to stay in the house, the cost of closing, and your overall financial plan (budget, retirement sav

What did the latest Fed minutes actually say? The Sept. 16–17 FOMC minutes show a real divide. Most participants supported September’s...