Stocks have rallied big on hopes of even easier monetary policy. In the very near term, bulls carry the momentum ball. Medium- to long-term, a daunting task likely awaits them. The Fed’s toolkit is inadequate. Plus, its stimulative measures may … Continued
The FOMC meets this week. No change in expected. But in the remaining four scheduled meetings, markets have priced in at least two cuts. The Fed has a juggling act in hand. The unemployment rate is near a six-decade low, … Continued
The Fed Wednesday held interest rates steady. No surprise there. But the bank was even more dovish than markets expected. That was a surprise. Even more surprising is how stocks reacted. The Fed Wednesday left the fed funds rate unchanged … Continued
The Fed meets this week. It already shifted its bias from hawkish to dovish, helping stocks. With the economy softening, in due course the Fed may once again deploy balance sheet as a tool, which will initially help stocks, but … Continued
With higher lows since the December 2015 trough, gold finds itself right underneath major resistance. A breakout would speak volumes about the global economy and how major central banks would react in response. Near-term notwithstanding, gold bugs deserve the benefit … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of December 18, 2018. 10-year note: Currently net short 380.8k, down 13k. With pressure growing from diverse quarters, including the White House, to stay pat in this week’s meeting, the Fed went ahead … Continued
The FOMC meets this week. A 25-basis-point hike is expected, so is a shift to a dovish bias. Watch out if stocks, beaten up the past two and a half months, cannot rally on this, and/or shorts quickly show up … Continued
Following futures positions of non-commercials are as of December 11, 2018. 10-year note: Currently net short 393.8k, up 100.6k. Next week – on 18-19 – the FOMC meets. This is the last meeting this year. A 25-basis-point raise is expected, … Continued
The 10-year T-yield dropped from 3.24 percent a month ago to last Thursday’s intraday low of 2.83 percent. The daily chart is grossly oversold. A rally looks imminent near term, meaning TLT is headed lower. US average hourly earnings for … Continued
Post-Powell’s supposed dovish switch last week, equity bulls spent lots of energy to rally the S&P 500 within less than two points of the 200-day. If the trade-tariff truce the US and China reached over the weekend in Argentina is … Continued