Paid Core Inflation: The True Story Jun 18, 2023 2 min read paid A few of our QT members asked us to explain why core CPI inflation, which has been so sticky over the past year, should moderate over the rest of this year. The headline CPI inflation rate has dropped significantly since last summer from around 9.0% to 4.0% in May (chart). But the core inflation rate has been stuck around 6.00% since early last year. The core CPI Ed Yardeni
Paid DEEP DIVE: All About S&P 500 Earnings Jun 17, 2023 4 min read paid Earnings I: The Past The Q1 earnings season is over, and the final numbers are in. They were better-than-expected results, which isn’t surprising when the economy is growing. Worse-than-expected results tend to occur when the economy is falling into a recession. That the economy would fall into a recession has been a widespread concern—but not our outlook, as you know. So far, so good. Today, let’s review Ed Yardeni
Public Stock Market's Meltup Continues Jun 15, 2023 2 min read Investors had a quick look at today's economic indicators and concluded that the economy is still growing albeit slowly while inflation is continuing to moderate. The FOMC's next meeting is at the end of July. By then, the committee might conclude that the federal funds rate, currently still at 5.00%-5.25%, might be restrictive enough to get the inflation rate close to 2.0% Ed Yardeni
Paid A Hawkish Skip at the Fed Jun 14, 2023 2 min read paid In this past Sunday's QT, we wrote: "On Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell will update us on the committee's latest views. Odds are the FOMC will skip another rate hike, but hint that rate hiking might not be over." Sure enough, the FOMC skipped and the committee's statement noted: "Holding the target range steady at this meeting allows the Committee to Ed Yardeni
Paid Dr Ed's Video Webcast 6/14/23 Jun 14, 2023 1 min read paid Investors are on the edge of their seats: Will the FOMC raise the federal funds rate (FFR) when it meets this week or pass this time? Key will be how fast inflation is falling, and the Consumer Price Index for May will be released as they deliberate. We say monetary policy is restrictive enough already, as the higher effective FFR implies a tighter environment than the straight FFR suggests. … Also: Ed Yardeni
Paid The Bull Was Pleasantly Surprised by May's CPI Today Jun 13, 2023 2 min read paid Stock prices rallied from the open today on May's CPI report. It wasn't surprisingly good. But investors and traders feared that it might be surprisingly bad. That's been the modus operandi of this bull market since October 12. It's been rallying on all the bad things that aren't happening. So far, there's been no recession, no earnings collapse, Ed Yardeni
Paid S&P 500's Blue Angels Are Climbing Again Jun 12, 2023 1 min read paid Our Blue Angels analysis multiplies the weekly forward earnings of the S&P 500/400/600 by forward P/Es of 10-22 in increments of 2 (chart). We then can see how the three stock price indexes are tracking their Blue Angels, which always fly in a parallel formation. Forward earnings is the time-weighted average of industry analysts' consensus expectation for earnings during the current year and the Ed Yardeni
Paid Market Call: Young Bull Jun 11, 2023 2 min read paid We have some good news and some bad news for the bulls. The good news is that the S&P 500 is up 20.0% since October 12, which is widely viewed as the definition of a bull market (table). The bad news is that a picture of a bull is featured in the latest Barron's cover story titled, "Don't Fear the Bull Market. Ed Yardeni
Paid The Economic Week Ahead: June 12-16 Jun 10, 2023 2 min read paid This will be a head spinning week. It could also be another rollercoaster ride in the financial markets. Maybe we should go on vacation and come back on Friday following the deluge of economic indicators from Monday through Thursday, and a FOMC meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday to boot. May's CPI will be released on Tuesday morning just as the FOMC convenes for a two-day meeting, which will Ed Yardeni
Paid China's Post-Lockdown Recovery & Stimulus Disappoint Jun 8, 2023 2 min read paid The Chinese government started to lift its pandemic lockdown restrictions in early December last year. The economic rebound has been weaker than widely expected. Indeed, China's imports have been flat at a record high since mid-2021 and have remained so through May of this year (chart). Furthermore, inflation has been nonexistent as the Chinese CPI rose just 0.1% y/y in April, while the country's Ed Yardeni
Paid Rally Could Broaden Led By Financials Jun 7, 2023 2 min read paid The stock market rally narrowed significantly when the banking crisis clobbered the S&P 500's Financials sector in March (chart). The bears have been saying that this is a bearish development. We've been thinking that the rally could broaden once investors stop worrying about which banks are vulnerable to deposit runs and loan losses. Instead, we've been suggesting that investors should be focusing Ed Yardeni
Public Onshoring Is Happening Now. Don't Underestimate MAMA! Jun 6, 2023 2 min read Don't underestimate "MAMA," which stands for “Making America Manufacture Again.” Manufacturers, large and small, domestic and foreign, are tapping into the trillions of dollars of incentives available in the CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to build factories in the US. They plan to make semiconductors, batteries, solar equipment, electric vehicles (EVs), and green hydrogen, among Ed Yardeni