The hottest Indices Substack posts right now

National house-price growth is stalling: Freddie Mac's index fell 0.13% month-over-month and is up just 0.4% year-over-year, the lowest point in this cycle and essentially flat over the past nine months, so prices could turn negative year-over-year in 2026.
Many places are still below prior peaks: 36 states plus D.C. and most metropolitan areas remain under their previous highs, with the biggest declines concentrated in Florida and California—Punta Gorda is roughly 22% below its recent peak and Austin about 18% down.
Signals point to further cooling but with regional differences: Freddie Mac and NAR readings suggest Case-Shiller will show smaller year-over-year gains, and rising inventory alongside record-low sales has slowed national price growth, though outcomes will vary by market.

US stocks rallied last week — the S&P gained 1.1% and the Nasdaq 1.5%, with small caps (Russell 2000) leading the charge and now the clear YTD winner at +6.5%.
A surprise Supreme Court decision struck down the tariff program and sparked buying, and markets held those gains even after a quick presidential response announcing a new 10% global tariff.
Gold jumped sharply and is up 17.4% YTD, showing many investors are still hedging against uncertainty rather than fully committing to the equity rally.

The author has a new favorite Japanese stock index position betting on Nikkei outperforming S&P 500 and getting long volatility.
The focus of the article is not on fundamental reasons for the position, but on a unique trading edge.
The content of the post is available only to paid subscribers.

Logistics Managers Index expanded at fastest rate since February.
Economic Optimism Index dropped in October for 26th consecutive pessimistic reading.
Financial conditions tightened due to various factors like higher Treasury yield and lower equity prices.

Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

National house prices increased by 4.8% year-over-year in October.
FHFA House Price Index went up 0.3% in October and 6.3% from last year.
Case-Shiller index shows that the 10-City and 20-City Composites and National indices reached new all-time highs in October.

Freddie Mac's National Home Price Index rose 6.2% year-over-year in January, marking a positive trend in the housing market
The index has been climbing consecutively for the past 13 months, showing sustained growth in home prices
Seasonally adjusted data reveals that 16 states and D.C. experienced price declines, with Austin being the worst-performing city

The big performance gap between the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 in 2025 was driven mainly by just two sectors and only six stocks.
This shows the UK market is heavily concentrated, so broad indexes can be skewed by a tiny number of companies.
Investors should watch concentration risk and consider diversifying beyond headline indexes or checking sector and stock weightings before assuming broad exposure.