Fed Drives S&P 500 To Record Levels, Economic Fundamentals Still Soft
Holiday sales look flat. While online sales were up, sales at traditional retailers were lackluster. Penney’s, Kohl’s, L Brands, Macy’s, Urban Outfitters, Bed Bath & Beyond, all reported lower sales vs. a year ago. Meanwhile, in what looks to be a “frugality” or “trade down” movement on the part of the consumer, same store sales at Walmart, Costco, […]
The Deer in the Headlights
The big event of August, the one that was going to move markets, was supposed to be Jay Powell’s remarks at the KC Fed’s annual symposium at Jackson Hole. Turns out, his speech was a non-event! The Powell Non-Event The media made it their purpose, prior to his speech, to spotlight the fact that the […]
Fallout From Fed Dovishness
The rate setting committee of the Fed met on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 19 and 20. What the Market Saw and Heard From their formal statement and press conference, the equity market saw and heard only what it wanted, at least at first, and equity markets rose on Thursday, March 21st (Dow Jones +217): No rate […]
December’s Petulant Children: Trump, the Fed, Markets
Surely, this was a December to remember, but due to financial pain, not joy. Prior to December, markets were uneasy, and this showed up in a downward pricing bias and significantly increased volatility. As measured by the intraday swings on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) between high and low [(high-low)/prior close], volatility more than […]
Don’t be Fooled: Complacency is a Danger to Investors
The U.S. economy itself appears to be doing well, but we see many end of cycle signs, including less than 4% unemployment, rising interest rates, emerging consumer inflation, a strained housing market, slowing growth worldwide, and huge instability now developing in the emerging market space including Argentina, Turkey, Brazil, Indonesia, and Thailand. However, what scares […]
The Fed’s new bubble – Part 2
In part I of this two part series, I discussed the possible rush for the exits and market volatility in what I saw as a long overdue correction. The violence of the correction and the extremes of volatility that I worried about have now actually appeared. As I rewrite the introduction of this part II, conventional […]