Tomorrow is the commencement of a two-day FOMC meeting. It is widely expected the Committee will keep rates steady in the 5.25% to 5.5% range and might “pencil” in one more interest hike later this year and stay at
Underlying inflation ran at a faster than expected monthly pace in August, leaving the door open for additional interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. Core consumer prices—which exclude food and energy prices—advanced 0.3% from
The WSJ reports the budget deficit for fiscal year 2023 that ends on September 30 will be $1.7 trillion. The estimate is from the Congressional Budget office’s monthly report for August and the deficit is even worse than
Markets were bifurcated as the Dow was unchanged and the NASDAQ led by be technology shares retreated about 1.0% amid concern over how a Chinese ban on AAPL’s iPhone could impact other segments of the
The ISM Services Index, which represents about 70% of the economy, rose to a six-month high in August, exceeding all estimates in a Blomberg survey of economists. The surprisingly robust figures highlight the
Oil rose about 2% yesterday following the announcement that Saudi Arabia will extend its unilateral oil production cut by another three months. Its daily production will hold around 9 million barrels a day, the lowest level in
A cooling jobs market may give the Fed room to pause interest rate increases this month while keeping options open for another rate hike later in the
The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation posted the smallest back-to-back increase since late 2020 as the data largely met expectations. The markets ignored the “super core” PCE report, the gauge that
Will today’s data confirm the increasing sense of optimism that the Federal Reserve is approaching the end of its interest rate hikes? Yields on the two-year Treasury, or the instrument most sensitive to monetary policy, declined to
Bloomberg writes August’s market performance is the worst August since 2015. The Newswire also reports the S & P 500 is hovering nominally lower than it was at this point in
