Yardeni QuickTakes (Page 44)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Long Face

Apr 24, 2024 2 min read paid

A horse walks into a bar. Bartender asks, "Why the long face?" In the stock market, there are more long faces recently: (1) The Investor Intelligence Bull-Bear Ratio fell for the third week to 2.15 this week after climbing to 4.43 three weeks ago—which was the highest reading since February 5, 2018 (chart). (2) Turning to the AAII Sentiment survey (as of April 18), pessimism

Ed Yardeni

Copper, Oil & China

Apr 23, 2024 2 min read paid

Is the global economy suddenly taking off? It seems that way given the sudden vertical ascent of several metals prices, particularly those of copper, aluminum, tin, and zinc. On the other hand, the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil has slipped recently, suggesting that its recent advance had more to do with a rising geopolitical risk premium than a resurgence of global growth (chart). Our thesis is that

Ed Yardeni

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