Many times I have opined to expect the unexpected further commenting the velocity of change is numbing. I rhetorically ask who nine months ago suggested oil would fall 60% and the dollar would be about 22% higher on a traded weighted basis. Who suggested 19...
The volatility is rising to levels not experienced in several years. Perhaps the only conclusion to make is conviction levels are nonexistent....
The volatility continues! Equities fell significantly for the third day in six. Friday’s catalyst was disappointing consumer confidence data, rallying dollar and a decline in oil....
Friday the Dow fell over 275 points on stronger than expected economic data that challenged monetary policy assumptions. Monday there was a 135 point rebound followed by Tuesday’s 335 point drubbing. Yesterday the Dow rose over 250 points on data that was weaker than expected,...
The all-inclusive unemployment data is data is released at 8:30. What will the data suggest? The statistics have a high hurdle to meet given the large January “beat.” Were the labor markets held back by the weather and the slowdown at the West Coast ports?...
The Beige Book stated the economy continued to expand across most of the country amid broad based gains in hiring and rising consumer spending. The Fed found “modest” or “moderate” growth in eight of its 12 districts. Four of the twelve districts reported economic activity...
Stocks fell moderately over fears of the details of the ECB stimulus, profit taking and concerns of the content of the Beige Book and the upcoming jobs data that could challenge the accepted monetary timetable. Oil advanced as it appears Libya’s daily production has been...
According to Bloomberg the first rate cut of 2015 occurred on January 1 by Uzbekistan. Since then, the cuts have come fast, with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) on Saturday becoming the 17th central bank of the 57 monitored by Bloomberg to pare its...
Several years ago many were pontificating that yields will never go negative and banks would never charge for deposits. I viewed these declarations in the same manner of GM would never go bankrupt and the Federal Reserve would never bail out noninsured institutions....
Equity markets were again relatively quiet. There was some discussion regarding January’s CPI data. A plunge in January’s energy costs pulled the CPI down by 0.7%, the biggest decline since 2008 but ex food and energy, costs rose by 0.2%. The data confirmed the Fed’s...