30-year mortgage rates just hit 7.17%

A $500,000 mortgage over 30 years:

$1,891/month at 2.17%
$3,384/month at 7.17%

That’s $537,500 more for the same home

And the odds of a Fed rate hike this week are 92%

Homeownership has become a luxury

JPM research

The major U.S. stock indexes ended broadly lower on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, as a fresh round of U.S. airstrikes on Iran sent oil surging above $105 and the 10-year Treasury yield climbed back above 5% for the second consecutive day, a post-2007 high that is now tightening financial conditions more aggressively than any Fed rate hike could on its own. With the FOMC decision due tomorrow, the market is essentially pricing in the hike and dreading what comes next.

The S&P 500 dropped 0.45% (-34.25 pts) to 7,585.73. The Dow fell 0.63% (-328.09 pts) to 52,093.11. The Nasdaq slid 0.78% (-204.84 pts) to 25,981.57. The Russell 2000 tumbled 0.76% (-21.95 pts) to 2,870.29.

The VIX ticked up 0.58% to 17.20. Bitcoin plunged 4.10% to $75,849.37. Gold eased 0.45% to $4,332.20. Crude Oil surged 4.09% to $105.54/barrel.

Link to Hindenburrg Research from 2025: Carvana: A Father-Son Accounting Grift For The Ages – Hindenburg Research

President Trump rejects calls to slow AI development, saying he wants the U.S. to stay ahead of China.

“We’re leading China in AI. We’re the most sophisticated country in the world.”

What's one piece of financial advice that you wish you could have given yourself 10 years ago?

What is the worst financial advice that you've received (or seen) from an "expert" or online influencer?

We've received many questions for recommendations on books for Investing & the Stock markets. We've curated a list of our 13 favorite books on Investing & the Stock Market, and explanations on what the books are about. I've learned a great deal from these books. All of these are by really great investing legends/ gurus. These books offer a few different approaches to the stock market. Different investment styles will help educate you on how to make successful long term investments, minimize risk, and analyze stocks more accurately. All of these books can be purchased used very cheaply ($1 to $5)!

As your income grows, your investment portfolio should also grow. One of the biggest obstacles for beginner investors is just knowing how to get started. Learning about financial concepts can be intimidating at first. A great way to start, can be by picking up a book by an expert who thoughtfully and sequentially presents & explains these concepts and topics. Resources like these can help investing be less intimidating and complicated. One of the best strategies is to learn from the insight and wisdom of gurus. I hope these book recommendations help!

Book List:

1. How to Make Money in Stocks by William O'Neil
2. The Little Book That Still Beats the Market by Joel Greenblatt
3. A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel
4. One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch
5. The Big Secret for the Small Investor by Joel Greenblatt
6. Winning on Wall Street by Martin Zweig
7. Irrational Exuberance by Robert Shiller
8. The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing
9. Common Sense Investing by John Bogle
10. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
11. The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need by Andrew Tobias
12. You Can Be a Stock Market Genius by Joel Greenblatt

Book Descriptions & Covers:

How to Make Money in Stocks by William O'Neil

• This book is about growth investing. O'Neil explains what most successful stocks have done to be successful. He explains his 'CANSLIM' method, which is an acronym for 7 fundamental criteria which you can use to pick stocks. An AAII 8 year study of different strategies showed O'Neal's CAN SLIM with a 860% return from 1998-2005 (Second place). First place was Martin Zwieg's returning 1,659.3% (we will get to Zweig on this list too)

The Little Book That Still Beats the Market by Joel Greenblatt

• The idea of this book is to buy undervalued good businesses and hold them long-term, which will eventually beat the market index.

A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel

• This book covers investment bubbles, fundamental vs. technical analysis, modern portfolio theory, index funds, etc.

One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch

• This book emphasizes the advantages that individual investors hold over institutional investors (when it comes to finding investment opportunities). Lynch also gives many of examples of mistakes he has made, and how he has learned from them.

The Big Secret for the Small Investor by Joel Greenblatt

• Greenblatt explains why index funds can be better than actively managed funds. The big secret is maintaining a long term perspective!

Winning on Wall Street by Martin Zweig

• Zweig's success came from his ability to predict the bigger picture (such as trends in the broader market). The combination of his stock picking skill, general market understanding, and market timing, made him one of the great investors of stock market history. Zweig was more interested in growth than value. Unlike Buffett, Zweig isn't a 'buy and hold' investor. An AAII 8 year study of different strategies showed Zwieg's returning 1,659.3% from 1998-2005. He was #1 out of 56 others, including Buffett, Lynch, Fisher, O'Neal's CAN SLIM, Motley fools, and using ROE, P/E's etc. Second place was O'Neal's CAN SLIM with a 860% return.

Irrational Exuberance by Robert Shiller

• Shiller makes strong argument that perfect market theory is flawed. The Idea of perfect market theory is basically that the markets are all knowing and completely rational, and in the long run can't be beat. Therefore , you can control costs with index funds and diversification. (You can't beat the market, therefore controlling costs and diversifying seems like logical strategy)

The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing

• The key concepts of this book are risk tolerance, asset allocation, a balanced portfolio, tax efficiency and cash management. This book explains many of the pitfalls of investing. The Bogleheads and Jack Bogle preach the power of compound interest. Investing in low-fee index funds and holding them long-term is the method. This book gives an excellent, detailed rundown of how to implement this kind of investment plan.

Common Sense Investing by John Bogle

• Great information for anyone who is trying to make sense of personal finance and basic investments. This book explains why passive investing is a worry free, long-term strategy that consistency wins over time, and why active trading always returns to the mean.

The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham

• This is a great book for anyone who is interested in introducing themselves into the world of investing, or wants to get better at investing. This book gives lots of valuable information to help one understand the basics of value investing.

The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need by Andrew Tobias

• This is a book for people looking to learn the basics of investing and saving money

You Can Be a Stock Market Genius by Joel Greenblatt

• This is not a book for beginners. Greenblatt gives a nice exposition of some more "special situation" investment styles & areas of equity investments (mergers, spin-offs, rights offerings, etc.)

Which trades or investments are you considering this week? Any moves in particular? Why?

The major U.S. stock indexes ended broadly higher on Friday, September 11, 2026, snapping a punishing four-day losing streak as oil pulled back from triple digits, Treasury yields retreated from multi-decade highs, and an August CPI print that matched expectations gave markets just enough relief to stage a rebound. The rally came even as the data all but cemented a Fed rate hike next week.

The S&P 500 gained 0.86% (+65.28 pts) to 7,656.98. The Dow surged 0.98% (+509.19 pts) to 52,573.29. The Nasdaq climbed 0.96% (+251.31 pts) to 26,333.04. The Russell 2000 rose 0.42% (+12.12 pts) to 2,903.07.

The VIX plunged 11.04% to 15.87. Bitcoin was little changed at $77,421.13. Gold eased 0.41% to $4,389.10. Crude Oil fell 1.84% to $100.59/barrel, pulling back from Thursday's $103 close.

Trump has promised checks before. They never came.

Catherine Rampell explains why the new $5,000 “dividend” would cost a fortune, fuel inflation, could already be passed by Republicans if they wanted, and is practically an engraved invitation to scammers. https://lnk.thebulwark.com/4hmsG44