Public Copper, Mortgages, GDP, Breadth & Sentiment Jan 11, 2023 2 min read Yesterday, the World Bank slashed its 2023 global economic growth rate outlook to 1.7% from its earlier projection of 3.0%. In its Global Economic Prospects, the bank warned that the global economy is "perilously close to falling into recession." Dr. Copper, the metal with a PhD in economics, begs to differ. The nearby futures price of the basic metal is up to $4.17 currently from Ed Yardeni
Public Dr Ed's Video Webcast 1/10/23 Jan 10, 2023 1 min read We still see greater odds that the economy will glide to a soft landing (60%) than plummet to a hard one (40%), which nearly everyone else expects. What might a soft landing look like? Below is exclusive early access to Dr Ed's Webcast for paid members. This post and video will open to the public on a later date. The happiest—and most contrary—of scenarios would be Ed Yardeni
Public Small Business Owners Say Job Market Cooling Jan 10, 2023 2 min read December's NFIB survey of small business owners should make the Fed's hawks a bit less hawkish. They want to see evidence that the labor market is cooling and that inflationary pressures are easing. Today's NFIB report confirmed that both may be underway: (1) Fed officials have been focusing on job openings in the JOLTS report. They want to see it drop significantly indicating that Ed Yardeni
Paid Is The Service-Providing Economy Cooling Off? Jan 9, 2023 2 min read paid Consumers have cut back on spending on goods because they went on a goods-buying binge on them during 2020 and 2021, when many services businesses were either closed or limited by social distancing restrictions. During 2022, they pivoted to spending less at retailers and more at services providers as they reopened (chart). Consumers tend to determine the pace of economic activity. In a soft-landing scenario, they should continue to spend Ed Yardeni
Public The Economic Week Ahead Jan. 9-13 Jan 8, 2023 1 min read The Q4-2022 earnings reporting season starts this week with the big money center banks. They are unlikely to surprise investors. Their managements may once again warn, as they have in the past, that a consumer-led recession is likely this year. That's old news, and the markets aren't likely to react to it. Besides, if the banks expect a recession, why haven't they been adding Ed Yardeni
Paid Feshbach's Market Call Jan 6, 2023 2 min read paid We asked Joe Feshbach, our go-to market trading maven for his latest thoughts on the stock market as the new year begins. Here they are: Ed Yardeni
Public Another Batch of Soft-Landing Indicators Jan 6, 2023 2 min read Both the stock and bond markets cheered this morning's batch of economic indicators. For starters, payroll employment rose 223,000 during December, confirming yesterday's ADP payroll gain of 235,000. In addition, the more volatile household measure of employment jumped 717,000. These numbers might have spooked the financial markets but for the moderation in average hourly earnings inflation, which fell to 4.6% y/y Ed Yardeni
Paid Strong Labor Market Frustrates Fed Jan 5, 2023 2 min read paid On August 27, 2020, Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at Jackson Hole explained why on that same day the Fed issued a revised Statement on Longer-Run Goals and Monetary Policy Strategy. The statement and Powell's remarks stressed that monetary policy would focus on reviving the labor market after it was weakened by the pandemic. Powell said: "With regard to the employment side of our mandate, Ed Yardeni
Paid A Bowl of Mixed Nuts Jan 4, 2023 2 min read paid Today's batch of economic indicators was mixed, showing that the manufacturing economy remains weak, while the labor market remains strong. In addition, inflationary pressures continue to ebb in the goods sector. Yesterday, the Atlanta Fed's GDPNow tracking model's latest estimate was that real GDP rose 3.9% (saar) during Q4, up from 3.2% during Q3. Here's more: Ed Yardeni
Public The Bears' Favorite Chart Jan 3, 2023 2 min read One of the bears’ favorite charts shows the relationship between the S&P 500 and the size of the Fed’s balance sheet. The former rose 609% from March 9, 2009 through January 3, 2022 (chart). Over this same period, the Fed’s assets rose 1,005% from $760 billion in March 2009 to $8.4 trillion in January 2022. That was all wildly bullish for stocks and bonds. Ed Yardeni
Public Dr Ed's Video Webcast 1/3/23 Jan 3, 2023 1 min read With last year thankfully behind us, we take stock of what could go both wrong and right for the economy in 2023. We’re optimistic that 2023 will be better than 2022 for several reasons, but that’s a contrarian viewpoint. Below is exclusive early access to Dr Ed's Webcast for paid members. This post and video will open to the public on a later date. We maintain Ed Yardeni
Paid Running Out of Money? Jan 2, 2023 2 min read members Monetarists seem to be making a comeback, and they are sounding the alarm that the recent weakness in the M2 measure of money is confirming that monetary policy already is tight enough to cause a recession. We’ve addressed this issue in the past, and we still aren’t alarmed. Ed Yardeni