Ed Yardeni

The Fed Chair Testifies Before Congress

Mar 6, 2023 1 min read paid

Tomorrow (Mar. 7) and the day after (Mar. 8), Fed Chair Jerome Powell will testify in hearings before the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services panel respectively, to discuss the bank’s latest semiannual Monetary Policy Report (MPR). The report was released on Friday. It reaffirmed the Fed’s commitment to bring inflation back down to 2% by 2025, according to the FOMC's December Summary of

Ed Yardeni

Market Call

Mar 5, 2023 2 min read paid

The S&P 500 may continue to mark time until the data more convincingly support either the bull or the bear case. The index bounced off its 200-day moving average (dma) and closed above its 50-dma on Friday (chart). If the batch of economic indicators over the next two weeks is as strong as was January's comparable batch, the market will go down on fears that an

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead, March 5-10

Mar 5, 2023 2 min read

Fed Chair Jerome Powell will testify on the Fed's semiannual monetary policy report to two congressional committees on Tuesday and Wednesday. He is likely to say that although there are signs of disinflation, inflation remains too high and the Fed still has lots of work to do to bring it down. Powell's favorite labor market indicator, i.e., job openings, will be out on Wednesday for

Ed Yardeni

Tale Of Two Surveys Of Purchasing Managers

Mar 3, 2023 2 min read paid

Today's NM-PMI for February was happier than the month's M-PMI released on Wednesday. On balance, they confirm that consumers have pivoted away from buying goods to services, and that the rolling recession in the goods-providing industries continues to be offset by strength in services-providing ones. Let's start with the happy news that's contributed to this morning's stock market rally: (1)

Ed Yardeni

Q4 Productivity & Labor Costs Going Right Way

Mar 2, 2023 2 min read paid

Bond and stock prices opened weak this morning on good news from the labor market. Good news is bad news because the Fed is trying to slow the economy to bring down inflation. So good news increases the risk of higher-for-longer interest rates. The 10-year Treasury bond yield is back above 4.00%. At 4.95%, the 2-year Treasury yield reached levels not seen in more than a decade. The

Ed Yardeni

Fear Can Be Good For Stocks

Mar 1, 2023 1 min read

"Greed is good" is a catchphrase based on Gordon Gekko's quote "greed, for lack of a better word, is good" from the 1987 film Wall Street. That was the year that Fed Chair Alan Greenspan introduced the "Fed Put" as a way to stop panic selloffs in the stock market. For stock prices to go up, fear is sometimes better than greed.

Ed Yardeni

Performance Derby: Stocks YTD & In February

Mar 1, 2023 1 min read paid

The S&P 500 was up 3.4% ytd through the last day of February (chart). All of the 11 S&P 500 sectors with the exception of Information Technology gave back some of their January gains (or widened their losses) during February (chart). The market was discounting a soft landing in January. During February, the concern was an inflationary no-landing scenario. It's been a tug

Ed Yardeni

Dr Ed's Video Webcast 2/27/23

Mar 1, 2023 1 min read

The stock market beat a hasty retreat in February, spooked by reports of January’s economic strength and the Fed’s dreaded possible reaction. So today we look at what March’s releases of economic data for February might bring. Below is exclusive early access to Dr Ed's Webcast for paid members. This post and video will open to the public on a later date. They could be

Ed Yardeni

Capital Spending Getting A Lift From Washington

Feb 28, 2023 1 min read paid

Inflation-adjusted capital spending rose 4% y/y during Q4. That was a solid increase. However, it may be starting to slow. The CEO Outlook Index compiled by the Business Roundtable fell most of last year as the Fed's interest rate hikes heightened recession concerns (chart). Nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft have stalled at a record high in recent months through January (chart). The weakness in primary metals,

Ed Yardeni

Labor Market Tight. Goods Market Not So.

Feb 28, 2023 1 min read paid

The Fed would like to see fewer job openings to help moderate wage inflation. The time series is reported in the JOLTS report. January's update comes out March 8. It could jolt the Fed into remaining hawkish. That's because it is highly correlated with the The Conference Board's "jobs plentiful" series that came out today and that's been up two

Ed Yardeni

The Rent Is Too Damn High!

Feb 27, 2023 1 min read paid

As a result of the pandemic, the demand for single-family homes soared, and so did their prices. Rising mortgage rates last year clobbered affordability for first-time homebuyers, forcing them to rent. So tenant rent inflation soared from about 2.0% y/y in early 2021 to 8.6% in the CPI during January of this year (chart). Rising mortgage rates also reduced the supply of homes. Since many homes have

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead, Feb. 27 - Mar. 3

Feb 26, 2023 1 min read

The economic indicators this week are likely to confirm that the economy is experiencing a rolling recession. Single-family housing is still in a recession. That's likely to be confirmed by January's pending existing home sales (Mon) and 2/24 mortgage applications (Wed). Manufacturing growth stalled last year through January. February's Dallas and Richmond Fed regional business surveys (Mon & Tue)--along with last week&

Ed Yardeni

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