Stocks gallup higher as Fed chair affirms Powell Put
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said today that the Fed will do whatever it takes to keep the U.S.economy chugging higher--including a near-term cut in interest rates if needed to offset the negative effects of President Donald Trump's trade and tariff wars. I see...
Bond traders test the Powell Put today
U.S. stocks dropped again today with the Standard & Poor's 500 index closed down another 0.69% to 2783.03. U.S. Treasury bonds rallied with the price of the 10-yer bond up enough to push the yield down to 2.21% for a drop in yield of 26 basis points in the last...
Federal Reserve minutes say, No interest rate move “for some time”
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's April 30-May 1 meeting showed officials at the U.S. central bank inclined toward patience and to keeping the current wait-and-see policy in place "for some time." Adding to the dovish tone of the minutes, many Fed members agreed with...
The market is dangerously dependent on the Powell Put from the Fed
Right now if the market gets bad news on the economy it goes up. Today, May 15, for example, the S&P 500 closed up 0.78% even though both U.S. and Chinese retail sales disappointed for April. Right now if the market gets bad news on oil supplies, it goes up, as it...
Fed lesson today: Don’t count your interest rate cuts before they hatchet
Stocks, bonds, and President Donald Trump were disappointed today when the Federal Reserve left interest rates alone and said that low inflation could be transitory. There's no reason to either raise or lower interest rates at the moment, Fed chair Jerome Powell said...
Has President Trump talked himself into a box with his Fed criticism?
The Federal Reserve speaks today at 2 p.m. on inflation, interest rates, and the economy. Ahead of our efforts to parse the prose, it's worth taking a minute to think about the likelihood that President Donald Trump's very public criticism of the Fed has molded the...
Bank of America earnings: Another big bank flags falling net interest income
This morning Bank of America (BAC) reported first quarter earnings of 70 cents a share, 4 cents a share above Wall Street projections. Earnings per share were up 13% from the first quarter of 2018 but flat with the fourth quarter of 2018. Revenue fell 0.4% year over...
No surprises in the Fed’s minutes released today but “significant uncertainties”
According to the minutes of the Federal Reserve's March meeting, released this afternoon, everything is on the table. Here's a quote that sums up the thrust of the minutes, in my opinion. “Several participants noted that their views of the appropriate target range for...
Saturday Night Quarterback (on a Sunday) says, For the week ahead expect…
... a relatively muted week for economic data--Consumer Price Index inflation on Wednesday (expected core inflation of 0.2% for the month vs 0.1% last month) and initial claims for Unemployment on Thursday (forecast 212,000 versus 202,000 in the prior week)--will let...
Saturday Night Quarterback (on a Sunday) says, Watch to see…
... which market turns up this week. Last week's interest rate announcement and economic forecasts from the Federal Reserve AND the price action in the U.S. stock market left us poised between two alternative paths forward. In one--the one where we ended the week on...
Trick or trend: White House new pick for the Fed continues effort to politicize central bank
Our regular (or occasional or perhaps occasionally regular) Friday series (actually running on Friday this week) Trick or Trend looks at what might (or might not) be emerging investible trends. Exclusively on JAM. This post won't run anywhere else. Ever. President...Jim’s Stock Alerts
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