Holy Cow, Batman – 2! There Really Is Rampant Inflation!
The financial markets have displayed some volatility of late. The latest excuse was the on-shoring of the second case of China’s coronavirus in the U.S. And, no wonder, on a valuation basis, equities are at or near the highs of the dot-com era and similar to October 2018. Remember what happened next? As I’ve written before, equity prices […]
Fed Provides More Liquidity; Phase 1 Trade Deal, But No Corroboration On Jobs Report
Much has happened economically in the past couple of weeks including the Fed’s communication that it does not expect any rate actions in 2020, a Conservative Party sweep in the UK (which pays well in the U.S. for free marketeers), and a supposed “Phase 1” trade pact, although there won’t be a signed document until […]
Deflation’s Persistence Implies Yields Will Be Lower for Longer
Despite what you hear from the TV pundits, the U.S.’s second quarter ended on weakness, and there is little evidence that economic acceleration occurred. In previous years, slow GDP growth in Q1 was followed by 3%+ in Q2. Not this time! The Atlanta Fed GDPNow model, which uses a lot of sentiment indicators, is all […]
On a Recession Watch
For the first time since the industrial revolution, the U.S. faces two significant growth issues: 1) a declining labor force; and 2) a job skills mismatch. The declining labor force is demographic in nature and is occurring in every industrial economy; likely a function of the long-term success of capitalism. The skills mismatch is a […]
The Topsy-Turvy Economy
The financial markets are hooked on easy money, low interest rates, and growth via debt issuance. Yet, it has become obvious to some market players, economists, and maybe even the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (the rate setting cabal), that current monetary policy is now hurting, not helping, the economy. Of course, monetary historians […]
Economic Review – Q1/16
At quarter’s end, the equity market had recovered all that it had lost between 12/31 and 2/11, plus about 1%. Apparently, this was the swiftest recovery in any quarter since 1933. While we were fairly certain that the downdraft was just a much needed correction, like you, we don’t care too much for the uncertainty […]