Weekly Technical Reviews

In the second half of 2023 the correlation with the Federal Funds Rate futures (blue line inverted to align with changes in the S&P 500) and the S&P 500 was high. The S&P 500 bottomed in October as the prospect for rate cuts increased (blue line). The S&P 500 marched higher in...

As I discussed in the April Macro Tides and last week’s WTR, the March CPI was expected to move the financial markets. “ The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) for March will be announced on Wednesday and the Producer Prices Index (PPI) on Thursday. The CPI and PPI were up in January and February, so...

The Labor Department reported an increase of 303,000 jobs in March which was well above the Wall Street’s estimate of 200,000. Other aspects of the report were improved with the average work week ticking up to 34.4 hours from 34.3, and the Unemployment Rate falling to 3.8% from 3.9% in February...

On March 27 Fed Governor Chris Waller gave a speech to the Economic Club of New York entitled ‘ There’s Still No Rush’ . Governor Waller discussed how strong the labor market continues to be, the resilience of the economy, and recent disappointing inflation data as justification for waiting...

I thought that the Median projection for rate cuts in 2024 would fall from 3 to 2. It turns out I was only about half right. In the March Summary of Economic Projections (SEP), the Median estimate for the Funds rate at the end of 2024 was 4.6% and no different than the December SEP. This is why...

Coming into this year Wall Street expected the FOMC to lower the Funds rate 6-7 times even though the Unemployment Rate was near a 50 year low and GDP averaged 3.1% in 2023. This was clearly not going to happen. The disappointment of fewer rate cuts was replaced by the prospect of Artificial...

In last week’s WTR I reviewed a number of economic reports which showed a softening in the economy, CNN’s Fear & Greed index showing investment sentiment had entered the Extreme Greed Zone, and Warren Buffet’s view that “ markets now exhibit far more casino-like behavior than they did when...

There was economic data released last week and most of it was softer. Unemployment Claims and Continuing Claims increased more than expected. Durable Goods orders for January fell - 6.1%, have declined in 3 of past 4 months, and New Orders dropped by -7.3% excluding defense. Consumer Confidence...

On February 21 Nvidia reported earnings and the minutes from the FOMC meeting on January 31 were published. With all the hype surrounding Nvidia’s earnings report the FOMC minutes were ignored. Nvidia’s earnings and subsequent rally (+16.4% on February 22) and impact on the S&P 500 are the...

In January the Headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell from 3.4% to 3.1% but Core inflation held steady at 3.9%. Wall Street expected Headline inflation to drop to 2.9% and 3.6% for the Core. The sticky part was the monthly increase was 0.3% versus 0.2% in December for the Headline and 0.4%...