Inflation

The Economic Week Ahead: July 22-26

Jul 21, 2024 3 min read paid

The week ahead is jampacked with key economic indicators, including the first read on Q2's real GDP and June's PCED inflation rate. We're expecting robust economic growth and further progress toward the Fed's 2.0% inflation target. The latest regional business survey might also confirm our forecast that the goods-producing sector is entering a rolling recovery. Here's our outlook for

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

Panda In A China Shop

Jul 15, 2024 3 min read paid

China just loaned two young pandas to the San Diego Z00. In the past, such Panda Diplomacy suggested that relations between the US and China might be improving. It's hard to come to that conclusion currently since both US presidential candidates seem to agree that the US needs to slap more tariffs on Chinese goods. China remains very dependent on exports to boost its economy, especially since the

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

Disinflating CPI Broadens Market Rally As Investors Rotate To SMidCaps

Jul 11, 2024 2 min read paid

This morning, we weren't surprised by June's lower-than-expected CPI report. It does increase the odds of a cut in the federal funds rate (FFR) in September. That supports our expectation for the stock market rally to continue and broaden out from the Magnificent-7. Indeed, the Russell 2000 rose more than 3% this morning, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq declined as investors rotated into

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

Giving Credit To The Consumer

Jul 8, 2024 2 min read paid

The strength of the US consumer has underpinned much of the current bull market in stocks. In recent months, rising real disposable income (DPI) has fueled consumer spending even as the excess saving accumulated during the pandemic was depleted. Debt service payments have remained below 10% of nominal DPI from Q1-2020 through Q4- 2023. That's relatively low because many households cleaned up their balance sheets following the Great

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

The Economic Week Ahead: July 8-12

Jul 7, 2024 3 min read paid

Last month, lower-than-expected CPI and PPI inflation readings for May, along with rising unemployment claims for June, raised market expectations that the Fed will ease monetary policy sooner rather than later. The week ahead will be dominated by inflation data and jobless claims that are likely to confirm that the economy is in a disinflationary soft patch. That could boost both stock and bond prices. Consider the following: (1) CPI.

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

Rate Cuts This Year Unlikely As Fed Gets Closer To 2.0% Target

Jun 26, 2024 3 min read paid

We still expect that the Fed's preferred core PCED inflation measure will fall to the Fed's 2.0% target by the end of this year (chart). It was already down to 2.8% y/y in April. May's number will be released on Friday, and should show further progress. We don't see the Fed cutting the federal funds rate (FFR) this year,

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

The Economic Week Ahead: June 24-28

Jun 23, 2024 3 min read paid

The key indicator everyone's watching this week is May's PCED (Fri). We expect the Fed's preferred inflation gauge will continue to show progress toward its 2.0% target. The labor market may also take center stage this week. If weekly jobless claims (Thu) increase sharply after falling 5,000 to 238,000 in the June 15 week, the 10-year Treasury yield would likely dip

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

Inflation Moderates & Stocks Soar As Fed Aims For One Rate Cut In 2024

Jun 12, 2024 2 min read paid

Hooray! The S&P 500 closed slightly above our yearend target of 5400 today (chart). The same thing happened to us last year: We were forecasting 4600 by the end of 2024 and got there by mid-year. The index closed around 4800 at the end of last year. So what do we do now? We’ll talk and write more about our 2025 and 2026 targets of 6000 and

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead: June 10-14

Jun 9, 2024 3 min read paid

The economic week ahead will be dominated by the FOMC’s latest meeting (Wed) and May’s CPI report. The FOMC is widely expected to keep the federal funds rate (FFR) target range between 5.25% to 5.50% on Wednesday. The committee will also release its latest Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) showing the participants’ median forecasts for real GDP, the unemployment rate, the inflation rate, and the FFR.

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

Market Call: Another Rollercoaster Ride.

Jun 2, 2024 3 min read paid

Friday was another wild ride on the S&P 500 rollercoaster. At first, stock prices rose after April's PCED inflation rate released at 8:30 am matched expectations. But then they dropped after a recessionary reading in May's Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer at 10:00 am (chart). The unexpected decrease in the business barometer partly reflected a steep drop in the new orders index,

Ed Yardeni

Sunny Economy, Gloomy Dispositions

May 28, 2024 2 min read paid

Inflation is the number one economic concern among consumers today. It's also moderated significantly since the summer of 2022; the prices of durable goods are even deflating a bit. The labor market remains strong, boosting consumer spending. Stocks are at all-time highs. Yet, according to a recently released Fed survey, only 22% of Americans think the US economy is in good or excellent shape, down from 50% before

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

The Economic Week Ahead: May 28 - 31

May 27, 2024 3 min read

The economic indicators released during the shortened week ahead should confirm that economic growth remains solid and that inflation is continuing to moderate. Here's what we're watching this week: (1) PCED. The Cleveland Fed’s Inflation Nowcasting model shows headline and core PCED rose 2.68% and 2.74% y/y (0.27% and 0.23% m/m) last month (chart). That would be the lowest

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

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