Yardeni QuickTakes (Page 2)

MARKET CALL: The Impressive S&P 493 Ready For Broadway In 2026

Dec 13, 2025 4 min read paid

The S&P 500's Magnificent-7 might be less magnificent in 2026 as their fierce competition in the AI race starts to erode the monopolies they have enjoyed in search (Google), software (Microsoft), retailing (Amazon), advertising (Meta), electric vehicles (Tesla), smartphones (Apple), and GPU chips (Nvidia). The beneficiaries of that competition are likely to be the S&P 500's Impressive 493. A week ago, we

Ed Yardeni

AI CALL: The TIME Curse & The Game of Thrones

Dec 11, 2025 3 min read paid

"The Architects of AI" are this year's TIME Person of the Year. We asked Google's Gemini, "Can you list when the front cover of TIME featuring Person of the Year has turned out to be a curse?" Gemini responded as follows: "While TIME Magazine maintains that "Person of the Year" is a measure of influence (for better or worse)

Ed Yardeni

Fed Is ‘Well Positioned’ To Do Nothing For A While

Dec 10, 2025 3 min read

As widely expected, the Fed lowered the federal funds rate (FFR) by 25 bps today. It has lowered the FFR by 75bps since September of this year. Since the start of the current easing cycle in September 2024, this rate has declined by 175 bps to 3.50%-3.75%. In his prepared remarks at today’s press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell rightly observed the obvious: "The adjustments

Ed Yardeni

WEEKLY WEBCAST: 2026: Another Year Of Living Audaciously!

Dec 10, 2025 1 min read paid

The coming new year looks like another good one for stock investors. Dr Ed is adjusting his subjective odds of various stock market scenarios, including raising the odds of his base-case Roaring 2020s outlook to 60%. Associated assumptions for earnings and valuation levels produce an S&P 500 price target of 7700 by year-end 2026. Alternative scenarios include a bear case, triggered by a recession or recession fears (20%

Ed Yardeni

On Walmart, Silver & Jobs

Dec 9, 2025 3 min read paid

I. Walmart Goes Nasdaq On Sunday, we wrote, "In effect, our spin is that every company is evolving into a technology company." Today, Walmart transferred its primary listing to the technology-heavy Nasdaq from the New York Stock Exchange, where it has traded since 1972—making it the largest company ever to make that move. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon cited the company's technology progress as the main

Ed Yardeni

Fed Easing Fails To Ease Bond Yields

Dec 8, 2025 3 min read paid

Have you heard? The FOMC meets on Tuesday and Wednesday and is widely expected to lower the federal funds rate (FFR) by 25bps from 3.75%-4.00% to 3.50%-3.75%. That would be a 175bps cut in the FFR since the Fed started its latest monetary easing cycle in September of last year. In his October press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said, "Now we’re

Ed Yardeni

ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: December 8-12

Dec 7, 2025 3 min read

Obviously, this week is all about the Fed's big interest-rate decision (Wed); the policymakers are expected almost universally to cut rates 25bps for a third time this year. The immediate focus will be on the composition of the FOMC's vote and the insights from Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference: how many dissenters, if any; Fed officials' take on the balance of risks

William Pesek
Ed Yardeni

MARKET CALL: Rebalancing Domestic & Global Stock Portfolios In 2026

Dec 7, 2025 4 min read paid

It no longer makes much sense for us to continue recommending overweighting the Information Technology and Communication Services sectors in an S&P 500 portfolio, as we have since 2010. The same can be said about overweighting the United States in the All Country World (ACW) MSCI portfolio, as we have been since 2010 as well. Consider the following: (1) Rebalancing S&P 500 portfolio. The problem is

Ed Yardeni

CODE RED: Altman's Existential Crisis & Trump's Affordability Crisis

Dec 4, 2025 3 min read paid

The stock market has lost its mojo recently. The S&P 500 has been hovering around 6800 since late November. It did recover nicely from a November 20 low of 6538. But the rebound since then has failed to lift the index above the October 29 record high of 6890. It may break out above that high after the FOMC’s December 9-10 meeting if the Fed delivers the

Ed Yardeni

Despite Confusing Stuff, S&P 500 Remains Near Record High

Dec 3, 2025 3 min read

There are lots of confusing recent developments for stock investors to consider. The economic indicators are mixed, with some justifying a December 10 rate cut by the Fed, others not. President Donald Trump said he will announce his pick for the next Fed chair in January. It's not clear whether the Fed will be more or less independent as a result. The Supreme Court is likely to rule

Ed Yardeni

More Thoughts On Bitcoin, Stablecoin & Gold

Dec 2, 2025 3 min read paid

We do not have an opinion on bitcoin because we don't have any way to value it. It has been widely called "digital gold." We've previously described bitcoin as "digital tulips." That makes us sound bearish since the famous Tulip Bulb Bubble burst in Amsterdam several centuries ago, once it was realized that the small Dutch market had run out of buyers

Ed Yardeni

DEEP DIVE: The Affordability Crisis

Dec 1, 2025 7 min read paid

This is an excerpt from the December 1, 2025 Yardeni Research Morning Briefing. Affordability I: A Depressed State of Mind. Why are consumers so depressed? The monthly Consumer Optimism Index (COI), which is the average of the Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI) and the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI), fell to 69.5 in November (Fig. 1 below). That’s a level consistent with previous recession troughs in this average index. The

Ed Yardeni

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