Rover’s Weekly Market Brief – 09/26/2025

Streamline Your Dividend Investing with Stock Rover

Craig from Retire Before Dad shares how he manages his dividend portfolio using Stock Rover. He demonstrates how to project future income, evaluate dividend safety, and screen for new opportunities—all while tracking his core holdings. You can watch the video here ^[1].

Economy

Fed Chair Powell spoke ^[2] at the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce. The Fed Chair noted that while the economy has been resilient, economic growth is slowing, job creation has weakened, and inflation is still too high. Powell highlighted that businesses are cautious, even as they invest in new areas like AI. He also pointed out that tariffs are contributing to temporary inflation and that both the supply and demand for labor have declined. Powell stated that the Fed is balancing two key risks: cutting rates too soon could cause inflation to rise, while waiting too long could harm the job market. He added that the Fed recently lowered interest rates by 25 basis points and will continue to set policy based on incoming data and evolving risks.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported ^[3] that sales of new single-family homes rose sharply in August, climbing 20.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 800,000, up from an upwardly revised 664,000 in July. Compared with a year earlier, sales were 15.4% higher than the August 2024 rate of 693,000. Regionally, sales increased in the Northeast (+72.2%), South (+24.7%), and Midwest (+12.7%), while the West posted a more modest gain (+5.6%). Year-to-date, an estimated 475,000 new homes have been sold, representing a 1.4% decrease from the same period in 2024. The median sales price of new houses rose to $413,500 in August from $395,100 in July, while the average sales price jumped to $534,100 from $478,200. The seasonally adjusted inventory of new homes for sale stood at 490,000 units, representing a 7.4-month supply, down from 9.0 months in July and 8.2 months a year earlier.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis’ third estimate ^[4] for the second-quarter 2025 gross domestic product (GDP) reported that the economy expanded at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.8%, an upward revision from the 3.3% growth reported in the second estimate. This marks a sharp turnaround from the 0.6% contraction recorded in Q1 2025. The upward revision primarily reflects stronger consumer spending, which increased 2.5% compared to the 1.6% reported in the second estimate, and was partly offset by a downward revision to exports. Exports decreased 1.8%, a larger decline than the 1.3% decrease reported in the previous estimate. The price index for gross domestic purchases increased 2.0%, revised up from the previous estimate of 1.8%. The PCE price index increased 2.1%, and core PCE (excluding food and energy) increased 2.6%. Both of these price indexes were revised up by 0.1 percentage point from the second estimate.

Upcoming Economic Reports:

Tuesday September 30 – Chicago PMI (September)

Friday October 3 – Unemployment Rate (September)

Earnings Calendar:

 

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Carnival (CCL)	Nike (NKE)	Acuity (AYI)	AngioDynamcis (ANGO)	Apogee Enterprises (APOG)
Jefferies Financial Gr (JEF)	Paychex (PAYX)	RPM International (RPM)	NextSource Materials (NEXT.TO)	YASKAWA Electric (YASKY)