Texas

By Taylor Williams The factors and parameters by which commercial lenders and investors underwrite, value and price assets are changing at whirlwind speeds, creating a capital markets landscape that is defined by volatility as the second half of the year unfolds.  Capital markets professionals — as well as regular consumers — seem to agree that interest-rate hikes are a necessary evil in warding off record-high inflation. The Consumer Price Index  (CPI) rose 8.6 percent year-over-year in May, the latest data available at the time of this writing. But a lack of clarity on the magnitude of these future rate hikes makes it increasingly difficult for commercial borrowers to accurately gauge risk in their deals and project cash flows at their properties.  The Federal Reserve’s decision to raise the federal funds rate by 75 basis points at its latest June meeting illustrates the impulsiveness and hastiness with which fiscal policy is being crafted. Prior to the release of the May inflation report the previous week, investors had widely anticipated a 50-basis-point hike. Reports of an even more aggressive rate bump crystallized fears of inflation and sent the stock market into a spiral, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shedding more than …