Markets continue to reposition for a Fed interest rate increase–now it’s a rally in bank stocks and a further drop in gold

Welcome back to December! Remember when the financial markets thought the Federal Reserve was going to raise interest rates three times or maybe even four times in 2016 and suddenly bank stocks were the thing to own? At least until January when the sector went into a dumpster. Well, the positioning was back today–even if just for a day

Goldilocks confronts a disappointing April jobs report

Under some circumstances you’d expect a weak jobs number to send markets higher because it would signal that the Federal Reserve will put off the next interest rate increase. But not today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off slightly, by 0.07%, as of 11:30 a.m. New York time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 slipped 0.18%. That’s because markets have already priced in a one or none scenario for 2016.

Yellen speaks–and 1 is more than 3 today

At a speech in front of the Economic Club of New York today Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen pretty much quashed speculation that the Fed might raise interest rates at its April meeting. After such a strong reiteration of the Fed’s willingness to wait, the dollar fell, retreating 0.02% against the euro, and oil climbed

More oil than expected in U.S. inventories

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