Brighthouse Financial provides life insurance and annuity products in the U.S. The company was spun off from MetLife in August 2017. It has approximately 1500 employees. BHF shares are a component of the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index.

The major stock indices are all higher at midday on Friday, although higher stock prices at midday have not been a guarantee of higher stock prices at the close of late (or ever). Overall, there is still a lot of pressure on equities and the technical condition of the overall stock market is weakening. On the positive side, an imminent shutdown of the U.S. government seem less likely than more likely. On the negative side, consumer sentiment plunged in March and inflation expectations increased. Specifically, the University of Michigan sentiment survey fell to 57.9 from 64.7 last month, while worries about tariffs and trade wars are leading to growing expectations that overall prices are on track to rise.

Brighthouse Financial provides life insurance and annuity products in the U.S. The company was spun off from MetLife in August 2017. It has approximately 1500 employees. BHF shares are a component of the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index.

Monday Tee Up: Inflation Tracking Wall Street will focus on inflation this week and the data coming in will be the last few key indicators before the Federal Reserve meets to discuss interest rates next week. Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%, the S&P 500 was higher by 1.0%, and Nasdaq gained 3.3%. For the year, the Dow is higher by 18%, the S&P is up 28%, and the Nasdaq has popped 32%. On the earnings front, there a few stragglers. On Monday, from Oracle and Toll Brothers report. On Tuesday, AutoZone. On Wednesday, Adobe. On Thursday, Costco, Broadcom, and Ciena. Some 494 of the S&P 500 companies have reported for last quarter and earnings came in 9% higher than in the prior-year quarter. Communication Services, up 26%, and Technology, up 19%, led the gains, while Energy, down 25%, underperformed. At Argus, we recently raised our 2025 and 2026 forecasts for S&P 500 EPS growth. Based on our expectations for continued economic growth, we now forecast 12%, EPS growth in 2025, up from our prior forecast of 7%-9%. For 2026, we now forecast 11%, up our prior call of 7%-9%. On the economic calendar, this week features back-to-back inflation reports on Wednesday and Thursday. CPI posted at 2.6% on an annual basis for October and Core CPI was 3.3%. For November, Argus Chief Economist Chris Graja, CFA, expects a tick up to 2.7% for CPI and no change in Core CPI. His commentary includes the following. 'I feel like the Grinch every time I publish my CPI forecast and it is higher than everyone wants to see. The culprits I see are services and shelter. Economists, in general and including myself, have been calling for slower growth in the 'shelter' category. But it is happening more slowly than we expected. The CPI, less shelter, was up just 1.3% year over year in October. That's some comfort, but we all have to live somewhere.' After CPI hits the tape, the wholesale inflation indicator PPI will be updated on Thursday. Last week, the jobs report offered a mixed picture on the state of the labor market. Nonfarm Payrolls rose to 227,000 for November. That headline number seems high, but most of the gains were due to temporary job circumstances. Many economists feel the two-month average of 132,000 is more indicative of the true labor market. That is healthy but slowing. The Unemployment Rate inched higher to 4.2%, supporting the idea of a slightly softening labor market. Mortgage rates have dropped 12 basis points (bps), with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now at 6.69%, according to FreddieMac. Gas prices fell a penny, with the average price for a gallon on regular gas now at $3.03 per gallon. The Atlanta Fed GDPNow indicator is forecasting for 4Q and calls for expansion of 3.3%. The Cleveland Fed CPINow indicator is forecasting for December and is at 2.82%. Looking ahead, the Federal Reserve will make its last interest-rate decision of the year on Wednesday, December 18. According to the CME FedWatch tool, the odds have jumped to 86% for a 25-bps rate cut at that meeting, this following the jobs report last week. We also forecasts a 25-bps rate cut at that meeting, and then expect three more 25-bps cuts in 2025.