The Fed tightens the noose
The Federal Reserve pushed interest rates to a 22-year high on Wednesday, with another 25 bps move. It's not enough for the central bank to declare victory on historic inflation just yet, but it sure looks like markets are charting their next steps, with the CPI now...
Inflation is behind us
Stocks finished mixed Friday but scored solid gains for the week, as surprisingly moderate U.S. inflation data prompted hopes that the Federal Reserve could soon stop its pattern of interest rate hikes. With June consumer prices and producer prices showing smaller...
Listening to Okun – Okun Who?
The US job market cooled back down in June, adding just 209,000 jobs, and fueling optimism that the economy is on course to nail that elusive soft landing of lowering inflation without triggering a recession. The June job gains, released Friday by the Bureau of Labor...
Still Waiting for that Recession?
Wall Street's major averages closed out a strong first half of the year on an upbeat note. Moreover, the Federal Reserve's favorite inflation gauge - the core personal consumption expenditures index - moderated in May on both a month-to-month and year-to-year basis,...
Pay attention to the Economy, not the Fed
The Federal Open Market Committee paused its series of interest-rate hikes this week for the first time in 15 months, leaving rates in a range of 5% to 5.25%. But Fed officials estimated rates would rise to 5.6% by the end of the year, implying two additional quarter...
Two Cheers For The New Bull
Stocks fell slightly on Friday but still scored strong gains for the week, as investors celebrated a pause in rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Two important inflation measures during the week supported market expectations. The consumer price index report for May...
The 2nd longest bear market is over
All three major stock market indexes booked small gains for the week, as investors await next week's inflation data and policy decisions on interest rates from the U.S. Federal Reserve. Markets currently are forecasting a 71% probability that the Fed will pause on its...
Could the end of the bear market finally be near?
Investors cheered the passage of a debt ceiling bill on Friday that averts a U.S. default, but the biggest driving factor was May's jobs report, which showed U.S. employers added a seasonally adjusted 339,000 jobs, far more than expected. The data also showed a...
An economic car crash
Stocks rallied Friday on rising optimism that lawmakers will reach a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, led by the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which closed at its highest level since August. The entire week came down to results from two semiconductor companies - NVidia and...