by Aptus PM Team | Oct 24, 2025 | Blog, Bonds
The September CPI report, delayed for more than two weeks, was finally released this morning. The September Inflation data is an important number used to calculate the 2026 Social Security cost-of-living (COLA) adjustment; COLA is now set to increase 2.8% for 2026 (a...
by Aptus PM Team | Sep 26, 2025 | Blog, Bonds
Tug of War: Goods vs Services Inflation Goods inflation is rising because of tariffs, while the rise in services prices stabilizes. Source: Apollo. As of 9/22/25. As a whole, 72% of CPI components are growing faster than the Fed’s 2% inflation...
by Aptus PM Team | Sep 18, 2025 | Blog, Bonds
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates as expected by a quarter point, to a stated range of 4.0-4.25%. This marks 125 bps in reductions since initiating the cutting cycle last September, but was the first cut since December. The long pause was in response to fears of...
by Aptus PM Team | Sep 12, 2025 | Blog, Bonds
CPI came in a touch hotter than expected in August, with the headline rising 0.382%, rounding to 0.4%, and the core rising 0.346%, rounding down to 0.3%. The consensus was 0.3% for both. The YoY CPI inflation rate rose from 2.732% to 2.939%, while the core YoY rose...
by Aptus PM Team | Aug 25, 2025 | Blog, Bonds
We wanted to put together a note to discuss the recent underperformance of municipal bonds relative to their taxable brethren (MUB vs AGG, shown below). Tax-free bonds have faced a number of headwinds throughout 2025, and even with the decline in interest rates, they...
by Aptus PM Team | Aug 22, 2025 | Blog, Bonds
Fed Chairman Jay Powell finally delivered his long-anticipated address to leading economists and academics. A few quotes that caught our attention, not to mention the market’s attention: “In the near term, risks to inflation are tilted to the upside, and risks...
