The Confidence Game

Futures are sagging once again as they test our latest downside target to be tagged. One has to wonder how much ground will need to be given up in order for consumer confidence to drop back below 100. Note that the Dow is testing its 200-day moving average – always an important threshold when it … continue reading →

Powell Back in the Spotlight

It’s been lonely maintaining that rates would continue to rise over the past 10 months. As we noted in Decision Time: “TNX…looks likely to test 47.55 after it digests recent gains.” After the 10Y topped its Oct 21 highs, folks started coming around. Now it’s looking fairly obvious.The only question is whether Powell will fess … continue reading →

FOMC Day: Jul 26, 2023

Equities have ramped almost 12% since the last Fed meeting – ignoring the prospect of higher interest rates for a longer period of time. Given the oil market’s recent breakout and the obvious base effect on inflation, we see a good chance of Powell presenting a more hawkish stance than the overbought market is prepared … continue reading →

Stagflation Data

With CPI due out tomorrow, we should see confirmation of how behind the curve the FOMC continues to be. Whether or not the data comes in above estimates, it will still be well above the Fed’s professed target of 2% – meaning the pause was yet another mistake served up in the interest of propping … continue reading →