Trump: "Who Hired This Guy, Anyway!?"

My favorite Trumpism of the week:

“I’m doing deals and I’m not being accommodated by the Fed,” Trump told the Post. “They’re making a mistake because I have a gut and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me.”

If Trump could just shut his big yapper for a few days (very difficult, I know) he’d probably find that the Fed is fairly unsure about additional rate hikes. But, by targeting Powell and the gang with incessant criticism, he paints them into a corner.

Now, if they slow or stop the hikes to accommodate slowing growth and lower inflation, they risk the appearance of taking orders from Trump. The repercussions would be devastating to the Fed’s reputation. If they stick to their hiking schedule, they risk choking off whatever momentum the economy might be able to muster.

Meanwhile, the quite overextended DXY continues marching higher…… despite the EURUSD’s unwillingness to penetrate the channel backtest.Combined with VIX’s deft dip below its most recent straw-man trend line (but, failure to drop through its SMA50)…… it’s enough to send futures through their SMA10 which had previously represented resistance. Can it hold? A great deal depends on what Mr Powell has to say today.