The two-day FOMC meeting ends today. Unlike calls from some major brokers not to raise, the policy-setting body in all probability will hike by 25 basis points to a range of 475 basis points to 500 basis points. More importantly, … Continued
It is an FOMC week this week. Fed funds futures expect the one-year tightening cycle to terminate with a 25-basis-point hike this time; by June, the Fed is already expected to ease, with 2023 ending at 3.68 percent and 2024 … Continued
The treasury yield curve, crude and copper are seriously worried about prospects for the economy. Not the sell-side, which continues to expect a banner year – both 2023 and 2024 – for S&P 500 operating earnings. Odds heavily favor their … Continued
If the overnight strength in the futures market sticks and Tuesday’s CPI report cooperates, there is room for continued rally in stocks. Some indicators such as the percent of S&P 500 stocks above the 50-day are way suppressed, although the … Continued
Within a year, US interest rates have gone up a lot, with the fed funds rate having risen from zero-bound to north of 4.5 percent currently. In the futures market, traders expect the benchmark rates to peak between 550 basis … Continued
Last Thursday, bulls used initial weakness in major equity indices owed to 4Q22 productivity report as an opportunity to buy. Friday, they bought more. More gains are likely ahead. Fed funds futures are very volatile. Traders are actively reacting real … Continued
US consumer spending is holding up, even as manufacturing is under tremendous pressure. Consumers have been dipping into savings owed to loads of government stimulus post-Covid. Bank deposits remain healthy but at the same time the rate of change year-over-year … Continued
Last Friday’s PCE report forced markets to reprice risk assets. Stocks dropped but at the same time closed significantly higher off sessions lows. Near-term, equities can rally – if nothing else just to unwind the daily oversold conditions. As the … Continued
The fed funds rate has gone up more than 450 basis points since last March, and more tightening is on the way. This is yet to sufficiently make a serious dent in consumer inflation, even as economic data particularly surrounding … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of January 17, 2023. 10-year note: Currently net short 545.1k, up 133.7k. The 10-year treasury yield sits at a crucial juncture. It ended this week at 3.48 percent. Around 3.4 percent lies important … Continued