Ed Yardeni

What's On The Fed's Books?

Mar 23, 2023 2 min read paid

The Fed provides a weekly snapshot of its balance sheet in its statistical release H.4.1. It comes out on Thursdays. The latest one for the week ended March 22 can be compared to the one for the week ended March 8 to see how the meltdowns of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank (on March 9 & 10) affected the Fed's balance sheet. The total assets

Ed Yardeni

Can We Bank on Yellen & Powell?

Mar 22, 2023 3 min read

Stock prices fell after Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference today, which was actually relatively dovish. He said that inflation remains too high, but the banking crisis might force the Fed to pause tightening soon. Of greater concern to the stock market was that US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said at a congressional hearing this afternoon: “I have not considered or discussed anything having to do with blanket

Ed Yardeni

Dr Ed's Video Webcast 3/20/23

Mar 22, 2023 1 min read

The spread between the 10-year Treasury bond yield and the federal funds rate inverted in November; such inversions are predictive of credit crunches and recessions. They also tend to predict financial crises that halt Fed tightening. It’s too early to credit the yield-curve inversion for calling a recession, but it was spot on in presaging a crisis like SVB. Below is exclusive early access to Dr Ed's

Ed Yardeni

Fed Hawks Down!

Mar 22, 2023 1 min read

The FOMC raised the federal funds rate by 25bps to 4.75%-5.00%. The committee's statement reassuringly noted: "The U.S. banking system is sound and resilient." Nevertheless, the recent banking crisis undoubtedly turned Fed officials less hawkish. Fed Chair Jerome Powell in his post-meeting presser said that inflation remains too high, yet the median forecast of the federal funds rate in the FOMC'

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

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