January 15, 2025 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing |
As of noon New York time today, January 15, the Standard & Poor’s 500 was ahead 1.30%. The NASDAQ Composite and the small-cap Russell 2000 were both up 1.80% on the session. Today’s big moves come on relatively minor changes in inflation trends in this morning’s report on CPI inflation in December. And I think they have more to do with how afraid Wall Street is that the Federal Reserve isn’t going to deliver at least one or two interest rate cuts in 2025 than with any big news in today’s report. The consumer price index (CPI) rose at an annual rate of 2.9% in December, up from a 2.7% annual rate the previous month. That increase was in line with expectations. On a month-to-month basis, the index rose 0.4%. The “core” index, which strips out volatile food and energy prices and is much more important to the Fed than the headline inflation number, rose at a 3.2% annual rate in December. That was down slightly from its annual rate of 3.3% in November, and less than economists had expected. It’s this dip in the annual rate of core inflation that has investors feeling so optimistic today.
January 10, 2025 | AAPL, ACAD, ADSK, AGN, ALB, ALV, AMZN, ARCO, ARGT, AUY, BABA, BG, BGC, BHP, BMY, CHK, CMI, CNI, COH, CSCO, CTRP, CX, Daily JAM, DD, DE, DHR, DWDP, DXJR, EBAY, EEM, EFNL, ENB, EUM, EWZS, FANG, FANUY, FB, FCX, FEZ, FLR, FLS, FTV, GDXJ, GE, GGAL, GLD, GLW, GOOG, HAIN, HDB, HP, INCY, ING, IONS, ITUB, IVV, JCI, JO, JOY, KBWB, KMI, LFL, LNG, LUX, MGM, MIDD, MON, Morning Briefing, MPC, MXF, NJDCY, NKTR, OGXI, OKS, PEP, PFXF, POT, PXD, PYPL, QCOM, RSPP, RYN, SDRL, SFTBY, SH, SLB, SPWR, SQM, STO, SYNA, TCEHY, TPR, TRGP, TS, V, VALE, VEA, Videos, VMC, VZ, WBK, WES, XOM, XYL, YPF, Z-SYMBOLS |
In December U.S. economy in December added the most jobs since March and the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell. Nonfarm payrolls increased 256,000, exceeding all but one forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, while average hourly earnings rose 0.3% from November, a Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed Friday. For 2024 as a whole, the economy added 2.2 million jobs—-below the 3 million increase in 2023 but above the 2 million created in 2019. The data almost certainly assured that the Federal Reserve would not cut interest rates at its January 29 meeting. As of 11 a.m. New York time, the yield on the 10-year Treasury had climbed another 5 basis points to 4.74%.
January 8, 2025 | AAPL, ACAD, ADSK, AGN, ALB, ALV, AMZN, ARCO, ARGT, AUY, BABA, BG, BGC, BHP, BMY, CHK, CMI, CNI, COH, CSCO, CTRP, CX, DD, DE, DHR, DWDP, DXJR, EBAY, EEM, EFNL, ENB, EUM, EWZS, FANG, FANUY, FB, FCX, FEZ, FLR, FLS, FTV, GDXJ, GE, GGAL, GLD, GLW, GOOG, HAIN, HDB, HP, INCY, ING, IONS, ITUB, IVV, JCI, JO, JOY, KBWB, KMI, LFL, LNG, LUX, MGM, MIDD, MON, Morning Briefing, MPC, MXF, NJDCY, NKTR, Notes You Need, OGXI, OKS, PEP, PFXF, POT, PXD, PYPL, QCOM, RSPP, RYN, SDRL, SFTBY, SH, Short Term, SLB, SPWR, SQM, STO, SYNA, TCEHY, TPR, TRGP, TS, V, VALE, VEA, Videos, VMC, VZ, WBK, WES, XOM, XYL, YPF, Z-SYMBOLS |
In minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December 17-18 meeting released on Wednesday, January 8, Federal Reserve officials clearly decided to move more slowly on cutting interest rates in the quarters ahead. “Participants indicated that the committee was at or near the point at which it would be appropriate to slow the pace of policy easing,” minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee showed. “Many participants suggested that a variety of factors underlined the need for a careful approach to monetary policy decisions over coming quarters.” Please note the reference to “quarters” and not “months.”
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The 20-year Treasury bond, a laggard on the government debt curve since its re-introduction in 2020, topped 5% Wednesday for the first time since 2023. The move looks to be fueled by concern that President-elect Donald Trump’s policies on tariffs and tax cuts will lead to wider deficits and rekindle inflation.
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The Institute for Supply Management’s index of services advanced 2 points to 54.1 last month. That show of strength in the economy–readings above 50 indicate expansion–was enough to push stocks lower as the markets began to price in a delay in the next interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve until July The measure of prices paid for materials and services rose more than 6 points to 64.4, suggesting that the drop in the inflation rate in the service sector–about 70% of the U.S. economy–might be over.
December 18, 2024 | Daily JAM |
In today’s quarterly update to its projections on economic growth, inflation, and interested rates in its Dot Plot survey of sentiment, Fed officials and governors forecast fewer rate cuts for next year than in their September projections, and they saw the fight against inflation making considerably less progress in 2025. According to the median estimate, they now see the benchmark interest rate reaching a range of 3.75% to 4% by the end of 2025. That would mean just two 25 basis-point cuts. The Fed’s projections are considerably more pessimistic than investors or Wall Street economists are. A majority of economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected the median estimate would point to three cuts next year.
December 18, 2024 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing, Short Term |
Today, December 18, the Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate for a third consecutive time.The Open Market Committee voted 11-1 to cut the federal funds rate to a range of 4.25%-4.5%. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack voted against the action, preferring to hold rates steady.
December 15, 2024 | AAPL, Daily JAM, MCD, Special Reports |
What you need as an investor and what your portfolio needs is a road map to the likely events of the beginning of this new administration. And a take on what those events are likely to mean for the financial markets–and the prices of stocks and bonds. And recommendations on what moves to make to respond to the events of the first 100 days of a Trump Administration. Which is what this Special Report is all about. Here /i’ll give you an investor’s calendar to the first 100 days of Trump; a run-down of the likely effects on the financial markets of the events in the first 100 days; and recommendations for moves that you should make with your portfolio.
December 14, 2024 | Daily JAM, Short Term |
When the Federal Reserve announces its latest interest rate move and it’s Dot Plot projections on future interest rates, inflation, and GDP growth, it will be the Dot Plot projections that matter to the financial markets.
December 11, 2024 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing |
Inflation remains stubborn. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose at a 2.7% annual rate in November, according to Labor Department data released Wednesday. That was hotter than a 2.6% rise in October. But that matched economists forecasts. It was also above September’s 2.4% annual rate. On a monthly basis, inflation increased 0.3% from October to November, the biggest gain since April. Prices for housing, energy, and particularly food all rose.
CPI core inflation, prices excluding volatile food and energy categories, rose another 0.3% for the fourth straight month. The are rate was up 3.3% for the year. For the past six months, core inflation has been stuck at an elevated level above the Fed’s target of 2%.
December 8, 2024 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing |
All eyes will be on the Consumer Price Index inflation report for November due out on the morning of Wednesday, December 11. It’s the last big inflation data dump before the Federal Reserve meets on December 18.
December 6, 2024 | Daily JAM, Morning Briefing |
The U.S. economy added 227,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported Friday morning, December 6. In addition, revisions added 56,000 jobs to the totals for October and September. Which adds up to a strong recovery from the shocking low 12,000 new jobs initially reported for October. Initial analysis that the almost non-existant growth for October was due to hurricanes and strikes now looks correct. At the same time, the unemployment rate, which is calculated in a survey separate from that which produces the jobs total, ticked up to 4.2% from 4.1%. The jobs total and the unemployment rate were broadly expected by economists. The complete picture is of an economy showing a continued modest expansion. In my opinion, that’s enough to lead to a 25 basis point cut at its December 18 meeting in the Federal Reserve’s benchmark short-term interest rate from the current range of 4.50% to 4.75%. The CME FedWatch took today put the odds od a 25 basis point cut at the December meeting at 85.1%. That’s up from 66% odds a week ago
