Ed Yardeni

The Fed Has Done Enough

Mar 21, 2023 2 min read

The banking crisis might be equivalent to a 100bps hike in the federal funds rate. We are just guessing, but financial conditions have surely tightened a lot as a result of the SVB earthquake and its aftershocks. Further hikes in the federal funds rate are no longer necessary to get it into restrictive territory as Fed officials have been aiming to do since they started the latest monetary policy tightening

Ed Yardeni

The Fed Should Give It A Rest

Mar 20, 2023 1 min read paid

In his previous press conference on February 1, 2023, Fed Chair Jerome Powell mentioned the word “restrictive” 10 times. It was mentioned mostly in the same context as the following: “And we said that we continue to anticipate that ongoing increases in the [federal funds] target range will be appropriate in order to attain that stance of sufficiently restrictive monetary policy that will bring inflation down to 2%.”

Ed Yardeni

MegaCap-8 Stocks Are Outperforming Again

Mar 19, 2023 1 min read paid

The MegaCap-8 stocks seem to do well during pandemics. They did so in 2020 during the Covid lockdowns. They may be doing so again during the banking crisis. Their collective market-cap share has jumped from 19.0% a few weeks ago to 23.5% on Friday (chart).

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead: March 20-24

Mar 19, 2023 2 min read

The FOMC always seems to take center stage in the financial markets these days, and will certainly do so on Wednesday, when the next two-day meeting of the FOMC will end around noon. It will be followed by the release of the FOMC's statement at 2:00 pm and Fed Chair Powell's presser at 2:30 pm. He should be less hawkish than he was during

Ed Yardeni

Market Call

Mar 18, 2023 1 min read paid

The S&P 500 closed at 3916.64 on Friday, just above where it closed at the end of last year (chart). We asked Joe Feshbach for his latest trading thoughts. He observes: "The market doesn’t need these premature rallies. They only serve to prolong the correction as negative sentiment doesn’t have time to intensify. Surprisingly, the daily put/call ratio (PCR) fell way to quickly

Ed Yardeni

More Shoes To Drop?

Mar 17, 2023 2 min read paid

Needless to say, the recent turmoil in the banking sector is raising renewed fears of a recession and a resumption of last year's bear market. The rolling recession could turn into a full-blown recession if the turmoil roils the banking system significantly. Bankers could become more cautious lenders especially among the smaller regional and community banks. On the other hand, the Fed probably stabilized the situation with its

Ed Yardeni

Banking on Inflation Going Downhill

Mar 15, 2023 2 min read

All of a sudden, we are hearing more chatter about deflation. Yes, that's right: deflation. The story line is that the regional banks will respond to the SVB debacle by lending less to lots of middle market businesses, especially if depositors move their funds to the money center banks or to the money markets. The result will be a credit crunch and a hard landing forcing companies to

Ed Yardeni

Dr Ed's Video Webcast 3/13/23

Mar 15, 2023 1 min read

Tightening monetary cycles often end abruptly when “something breaks” and a financial crisis is triggered. If the Silicon Valley Bank run is that something, it could mean tightening ends sooner and bond yields have peaked. We can’t say for sure that’s the case but can say the debacle should keep the tech sector mired in its rolling recession for longer. Below is exclusive early access to Dr Ed&

Ed Yardeni

DEEP DIVE: A Baby-Boom Theory of the Tight Labor Market

Mar 14, 2023 2 min read paid

The persistently strong demand for labor has surprised everyone from soft landers to hard landers. Fed officials are flummoxed. They’ve raised the federal fund rate by almost 500bps since early last year to cool labor demand and wage inflation. Yet the labor market remains hot. During January, the demand for workers measured as the sum of employment and job openings totaled 171.0 million, 5.1 million more than

Ed Yardeni

Inflation: Everything Everywhere But Less So

Mar 14, 2023 1 min read paid

And the Academy Award for the Biggest Economic Surprise of 2022 goes to . . . inflation. It has defied Fed expectations by being both transitory and persistent: Consumer goods inflation has been transitory, while consumer services inflation has been persistent. In any event, overall measures of consumer inflation continue to moderate. Consider the following: (1) The New York Fed’s consumer expectations survey was released on Monday with February’s results. It

Ed Yardeni

The Fed: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Mar 14, 2023 2 min read

Did the Fed just guarantee every bank deposit in America? That's really not the Fed's job; it's up to the FDIC to insure deposits up to a maximum of $250,000. By law, the Fed's job is to keep unemployment and inflation down. In addition to its legal "dual mandate," the Fed is ultimately responsible for maintaining financial stability. Our

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead: March 13-17

Mar 12, 2023 2 min read paid

This week will be jam-packed with economic indicators. More important will be how government regulators deal with the SVB debacle so that it doesn't turn into an economy-wide disintermediation disaster in the event that uninsured deposits are withdrawn and parked in Treasuries instead. Our bet is that the Fed and the FDIC will act quickly to keep this from happening. For the sake of financial stability, the Fed

Ed Yardeni

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