Market Commentary

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

Equites rose nominally as bond yield yields fell ahead of a week that is full of economic data that may help shape the outlook of Federal Reserve policy.  Equites breathed a sigh of relief that no

FRB Powell’s speech was widely a nonevent.  All markets sifted through comments from him and other Fed officials.  Powell stated officials “will proceed carefully” on whether to