Fed

Two Known Knowns About the Economy

May 31, 2023 2 min read paid

Investors are confused: Is the economy strong or is it weak? The answer is "Yes." The labor market is strong, but the manufacturing side of the economy is weak. We've all known that for a while. Today's indicators confirmed what we know. On the weak side today was the ISM Chicago Business Survey as evidenced by the drop in its Purchasing Managers Index (PMI)

Ed Yardeni

What's Driving Bond Yields?

May 22, 2023 2 min read paid

Two of our favorite technical indicators for the 10-year Treasury bond yield are currently bullish. The yield tends to be highly correlated with the ratio of the nearby futures prices of copper to gold (chart). The ratio suggests that the yield, which is currently 3.70%, should be much closer to 2.00%. We view the ratio as a risk-on versus a risk-off indicator. The Citigroup Economic Surprise Index (CESI)

Ed Yardeni

Credit Crunch Ahead?

May 9, 2023 2 min read

SLOOS was on the loose today, yet stock prices continued to snooze. The Fed's Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey was released yesterday after the market's close. It showed that banks continued to tighten their lending standards following the banking crisis that started during the second week of March (chart). Yet the DJIA barely budged falling 56.88 points and the S&P 500 lost just

Ed Yardeni

Keep Your Seatbelt on and Get a Neck Brace

May 5, 2023 2 min read paid

The S&P 500 rallied along with regional bank stocks today. It found support yesterday at its 50-day moving average. Shares of Western Alliance, Comerica, and Zions Bancorp were upgraded to the equivalent of a buy recommendation by analysts at JP Morgan. They said "with too many on one side of the boat, we move to the middle." Also giving the market a lift: Apple's

Ed Yardeni

Powell's Plateau

May 3, 2023 2 min read

The current consensus in the financial markets seems to be that the FOMC is done hiking the federal funds rate (FFR) after having raised it today by 25bps to 5.00%-5.25%. Furthermore, markets seem to be anticipating that the FFR will be falling soon. That's consistent with the widely held view that a recession is coming soon. It isn't consistent with Fed Chair Jerome

Ed Yardeni

Markets' Message to the Fed: Just Say No to More Rate Hikes

May 2, 2023 2 min read paid

The stock market sent a message to the FOMC today: Cease and desist from any more rate hikes, please. The stock market selloff was led by another rout of the Financials sectors of the S&P 1500. Here is what they did today and since March 8, the day before SVB imploded: S&P 500 LargeCaps (-2.3%, -7.3%), S&P 400 MidCaps (-3.2, -14.

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead: May 1-5

Apr 29, 2023 1 min read paid

This is another big week for earnings reports, which have been mostly better than expected so far. In addition, the FOMC meets on Tuesday and Wednesday, when Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds his après-meeting presser at 2:30 p.m. In our opinion, it's a toss-up whether the Fed will do none or one 25bps rate hike. But our subjective odds of an announced pause is 75% either

Ed Yardeni

Another Week Without a Banking Crisis

Apr 29, 2023 2 min read

Our mantra since the start of the banking crisis on March 10 has been that any day without a banking crisis is a good day for the stock market. Now our mantra is that any week without a banking crisis is a good week for the stock market. It was a good week for stock prices last week, especially on Friday, even though First Republic Bank continued its meltdown, which

Ed Yardeni

Fed 's H.4.1 Shows Banking Crisis Not Getting Worse

Apr 21, 2023 2 min read paid

The Fed's H.4.1 report is released every Thursday at 4:15 pm. It shows the Fed's assets and liabilities. Yesterday's report shows that the Fed's total assets edged down to $8.7 trillion after rising since early March when banks scrambled to borrow from the Fed's liquidity facilities to offset deposit outflows during the SVB-induced banking crisis (chart)

Ed Yardeni

Banking Crisis May Be Abating

Apr 15, 2023 2 min read paid

We've previously observed that any day without a banking crisis is a good day for stocks. SVB imploded on Friday, March 10. On Sunday, March 12, the Fed and FDIC took actions to avoid additional bank runs. The S&P 500 is up 7.1% since March 10 led by Information Technology (9.8%), Health Care (8.6), and Utilities (7.6%) (chart). All of the sectors

Ed Yardeni

Inflation, the Fed & Too Much Happiness

Apr 12, 2023 2 min read paid

The S&P 500 fell slightly today despite the better-than-expected March CPI data this morning. Inflation continues to moderate. The headline CPI inflation rate fell from 6.0% y/y in February to 5.0% in March. However, the core rate edged up from 5.5% to 5.6%, but slowing rent inflation is likely to cool this rate in coming months. On Monday, the Federal Reserve Bank of

Ed Yardeni

On the Lookout for a Bank Credit Crunch

Apr 9, 2023 3 min read

The Silicon Valley Bank imploded on Friday, March 10. To avert a widespread bank run, the Fed announced, on Sunday, March 12, that liquidity would be provided by the Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP). The Fed's press release stated that this new liquidity facility will offer loans of up to one year in length to financial intermediaries pledging US Treasuries, agency debt and mortgage-backed securities, and other qualifying

Ed Yardeni

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