Stocks vs Bonds

The OPEX meltup continued overnight, with futures up modestly to new 9-month highs. Powell speaks at 11am ET and might shed some light on the implications of treasury yields which have pushed to new cycle highs – reflecting a much more cautious assessment of the debt ceiling negotiations. continued for members… … continue reading →

FOMC Day: Dec 14, 2022

They’re all important, but this one carries extra significance due to the potential for a slowdown in rate hikes, or at least the commentary regarding one. Futures almost backtested the 200-day moving average overnight, but are now essentially flat. After all the excitement yesterday, our targets remain the same across the board. If anything, the … continue reading →

Powell on Deck

Powell’s speech will take on added importance following the release of this morning’s hotter than expected Q3 GDP print on the heels of a big ADP miss. Futures are flat after completing the backtest of the trend line from October we had been expecting. continued for members… … continue reading →

The Next Tests

Futures are flat following yesterday’s sharp selloff credited to the economic slowdown in China and hawkish Fedspeak. SPX closed below its 10-day moving average for the first time in 3 weeks, but is clinging to an important Fib level. continued for members… … continue reading →

Powell: Let’s Get This Party Started

Jerome Powell gave a good news/bad news speech to the Economic Club of New York. He noted that employment is still 10 million below February 2020 levels and that a broader range of unemployment would put the current rate at 10%, adding, “We are still very far from a strong labor market whose benefits are … continue reading →

CPI: Nov 13, 2019

Today is off to an interesting start.  Following Trump’s call for negative interest rates and more grandstanding on China in New York yesterday, headline CPI came in hotter than expected but right in line with our forecast. As we’ve discussed, this is the result of oil and gas trending sideways in support of the upcoming … continue reading →

Why Interest Rates Must Not Rise

In May 2014 many of us were shocked by a report that Ben Bernanke, who had recently departed the Fed, told a group of wealthy investors that he did “not expect the federal funds rate…to rise back to its long-term average of around 4%” in his lifetime. I remember feeling Bernanke’s statement represented both extraordinary … continue reading →

Not Exactly Reassuring…

The markets weren’t exactly reassured by Powell’s testimony yesterday.  Bottom line, no one in their right mind buys the idea that we can have such strong GDP and wage growth but still need such accommodative policy. IMO, Powell was curt and sometimes downright evasive, which didn’t help matters. Stocks plunged to our initial downside target, … continue reading →