Paid Market Call: Nothing To Fear But Nothing To Fear, Again. May 5, 2024 2 min read paid Nothing to worry about? The geopolitical risk premium in the price of oil has dropped sharply since early April. The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil slipped to $82.96 from a recent peak of $91.17 on Friday, April 5 (chart). Stock market sentiment indicators have turned less bullish, which is bullish from a contrarian perspective. Last week's economic indicators were on the weak side. Ed Yardeni
Public The Economic Week Ahead: May 6 - 10 May 5, 2024 2 min read It's slim pickings this week on the US economic front. The news is mostly about credit conditions. Then again, earnings reporting season isn't over. And, we can always count on the members of the Federal Open Mouth Committee to make headlines now that their blackout period is over. Here is what we can expect from this week's credit market indicators: (1) Q2's Ed Yardeni
Public Meet Eric May 3, 2024 2 min read I am very pleased to announce that Eric Wallerstein is joining the Yardeni Research team as our Chief Markets Strategist. He will work with me and the rest of the YRI team as we continue to produce the very best analysis of the global economy and financial markets that we can. Eric joins us from The Wall Street Journal, where he covered global macro—or as he says, the “anything Ed Yardeni
Public Stocks & Bonds Rally Despite Weak Productivity Report May 2, 2024 2 min read Go figure: Stocks & bonds sold off on Tuesday following a hotter-than-expected Q1 Employment Cost Index (ECI). It was up 5.4% q/q (saar) and 4.1% y/y. Today, they both rallied despite a hot Q1 unit labor costs inflation report. We agree with the markets' response to today's news because it is consistent with our view that inflation is still moderating when measured on Ed Yardeni
Paid Powell Says No Stag, No Flation. May 1, 2024 2 min read paid Fed Chair Jerome Powell wasn't dovish at his presser today. But he wasn't hawkish either. He said, "I think it's unlikely that the next policy rate move will be a hike." The 2-year Treasury yield fell back below 5.00% to 4.98%, consistent with one 25bps cut in the federal funds rate over the next twelve months. The S&P Ed Yardeni
Paid Dr Ed's Video Webcast 5/1/24 May 1, 2024 1 min read paid One quarter does not stagflation make. True, the March quarter’s real GDP growth rate was down from the December quarter’s, while inflation was up—a combination that calls to mind “stagflation.” But the current economic scenario is nothing like the stagflationary environment of the late 1970s, when the combination of anemic GDP growth and out-of-control inflation crippled economic activity. … Today, we look at data confirming that economic activity Ed Yardeni
Paid Look For The Union Label In Latest ECI Inflation Rate Apr 30, 2024 2 min read paid Today's Employment Cost Index (ECI) for Q1 was another hotter-than-expect inflation report. It came out just as the FOMC started its latest meeting to discuss monetary policy. It increases the odds that Fed officials will sound more hawkish starting with Fed Chair Jerome Powell at his presser tomorrow following the meeting. Stocks sold off hard as the 2-year Treasury note yield rose back above 5.00% to 5. Ed Yardeni
Paid Lackluster Fed Regional Business Surveys Apr 29, 2024 2 min read paid We now have the regional business surveys conducted by five of the Federal Reserve district banks. The average of their general business conditions indexes closely tracks the national manufacturing purchasing managers index (M-PMI), which rose slightly above 50.0 during March following 16 consecutive monthly readings below this level (chart). The regional average index was still negative in April. So it has yet to confirm that the rolling recession in Ed Yardeni
Public Market Call: Loop-The-Loop Apr 28, 2024 2 min read Keep your seat belts on: There may be a few more loop-the-loops in the stock market's rollercoaster ride. Or at least wear a neck brace. It's been a wild ride recently. After peaking at a record high on March 28, the S&P 500 plunged below its 50-day moving average and rose last week closing just below this average (chart). Geopolitical risks remain high, though Ed Yardeni
Paid The Economic Week Ahead: April 29 - May 3 Apr 28, 2024 2 min read paid This could be another action packed week as the Fed's meeting and the latest S&P 500 earnings reporting season take center stage. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will hold his press conference on Wednesday after the latest FOMC meeting adjourns. He is likely to reiterate that the FOMC is in no rush to lower interest rates, and isn't considering raising them either. That won' Ed Yardeni
Paid Triple Whammy Apr 25, 2024 2 min read paid Today started out with a triple whammy for the stock market. Meta took it on the chin, the GDP report was stagflationary, and the bond yield rose to a five-month high: (1) Meta. Yesterday afternoon after the stock market close, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's CEO, took some air out of the AI bubble by saying his company would have to spend a fortune to make this technology work and Ed Yardeni
Paid Dr Ed's Video Webcast 4/25/24 Apr 25, 2024 1 min read paid Today, we rant about rent and the housing market. Like a fun house mirror without the fun, several housing-related forces are distorting economic activity. There’s the distortive way rent inflation is measured in the headline CPI; if the BLS’s new All Tenant Rent index were used instead, the Fed would be fighting too-low inflation! … There are the forces messing with supply and demand, depressing the supply of homes Ed Yardeni