Fed

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

Ed Yardeni

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

Bonds Weigh On Stocks

Dec 27, 2022 1 min read paid

The 10-year US Treasury bond yield rose from a recent low of 3.425% on December 7 to 3.849% today, the highest since early November. We still believe it peaked at 4.248% on October 12. The spread between the 10-year and 2-year US Treasuries remained inverted at 50bps today. An inverted yield curve tends to coincide with the end of monetary policy tightening cycles and

Ed Yardeni

Fireworks Before Christmas?

Dec 20, 2022 2 min read

Santa is on his back foot. Fed Chair Powell's presser was hawkish last Wednesday. Thursday's batch of economic indicators seemed to support the hard-landing scenario. Could the Santa Claus rally make a comeback before Christmas despite the Grinch at the Fed? It could, depending on November's personal income report to be released on Friday. We think that it will confirm that inflation is

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead: Dec. 19 - Dec. 24

Dec 17, 2022 2 min read

Last Tuesday's good CPI news wasn't good enough according to Fed Chair Jerome Powell. In his Wednesday presser, he remained hawkish suggesting that the federal funds rate would be raised early next year to 5.00%-5.25% (bracketing the latest median forecast of the FOMC) and maintained at that restrictive level until inflation moderated significantly. Friday morning, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John

Ed Yardeni

The Fed: Higher For Longer

Dec 14, 2022 1 min read paid

The FOMC provided its latest Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) today after the committee announced a 50bps rate hike to a range of 4.25%-4.50% (table). At his press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged that that the rate is now restrictive, but not restrictive enough.

Ed Yardeni

Moon Shot?

Nov 30, 2022 2 min read

Fed Chair Jerome Powell was a bit less hawkish today. He said he still thinks there is a "path to a soft or softish" landing for the economy. He also suggested that the next hike in the federal funds rate on December 14 is likely to be 50bps rather than 75bps. So stock prices exploded to the upside. The DJIA soared more than 735 points, or 2.2%

Ed Yardeni

Risk Off In Last Week's Performance Derby

Nov 19, 2022 1 min read paid

The S&P 500 went nowhere fast last week, dropping 0.7% to 3965, putting it in between its 200-day moving average of 4053 and its 50-dma of 3790 (chart and table). Hanging over the market is that investors seem to be hanging on to every word of the participants of the FOMC (a.k.a., the "Federal Open Mouth Committee"). The economy is doing

Ed Yardeni

On A Wing & A Prayer

Nov 17, 2022 2 min read paid

Ed Yardeni

PMI Prices-Paid Indexes Predicting Falling Inflation

Nov 5, 2022 1 min read

Rapidly rising inflation since early last year has forced the Fed to raise interest rates significantly this year. That's been bad news for stock and bond investors, particularly this year. From the end of the Great Financial Crisis through the end of the Great Virus Crisis (i.e., 2009-2021), the winning investment strategy was to own both assets. Investors' mantra was: "Don't fight

Ed Yardeni

Powell's Hawkishness Boosts Bearishness

Nov 3, 2022 1 min read paid Featured

Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference might have signaled his latest pivot, but this time it might be to his peak hawkishness. He said that the Fed will raise interest rates until there is convincing signs that inflation is abating, which hasn't happened so far. There will be no pause along the way and certainly no easing. The terminal federal funds rate in December's

Ed Yardeni

Powell Turns Even More Hawkish

Nov 2, 2022 2 min read Featured

During his press conference today, Fed Chair Jerome Powell continued to read from the Volcker 2.0 script. His punchline appeared in his prepared remarks: “[W]e still have some ways to go, and incoming data since our last meeting suggest that the ultimate level of interest rates will be higher than previously expected.” During the Q&A portion of his presser, Powell repeated “some ways to go” several

Ed Yardeni

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