Inflation

MARKET CALL: Get A Neck Brace

Dec 21, 2024 3 min read paid

Wednesday was a bad day for stocks after the release of the FOMC's Summary of Economic Projections (SEP), which showed two cuts in the federal funds rate in 2025 rather than the four cuts shown in September's SEP. Friday was a better day for stocks after two Fed officials suggested that November's PCED inflation report provided justification for rate cutting in 2025. * Goolsbee. "

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

Fed's Hawkish Rate Cut Triggers Pausing Tantrum

Dec 18, 2024 3 min read paid

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) cut the federal funds rate (FFR) by 25bps today, as widely expected. That takes the target range for the overnight rate down from 5.25%-5.50% to 4.25%-4.50%, a full percentage point lower since the Fed's rate cutting cycle started on September 18. A cut was all but guaranteed. Yet the S&P 500 fell almost 3%

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

Home For the Holidays

Nov 27, 2024 3 min read

This is the time of the year when we all count our blessings. The Yardeni Research team thanks you for your interest in our research. We wish you a great Thanksgiving tomorrow with your family and friends at your home or theirs. Since 2010, we've been recommending a Stay Home investment strategy, i.e., overweighting the US in global equity portfolios, rather than a Go Global strategy. So

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

Sticky Landing For Inflation?

Nov 13, 2024 3 min read paid

Today's CPI report suggests that inflation may be getting stuck north of the Fed's 2.0% target. The headline and core CPI inflation rates rose 2.6% and 3.3% y/y during October. Goods prices are still deflating. But supercore inflation, rent inflation, and wage growth all rose last month suggesting they are getting sticky at relatively high rates. This along with strong economic growth

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

China: A Deflating Dragon

Nov 11, 2024 3 min read paid

Over the past three years, most American economists believed that a recession would be necessary to bring inflation down to 2.0% in the US. While the US economy managed to avoid a downturn, those predictions may have been right. The recession, however, was in China as the huge negative wealth effect of falling property and stock prices caused Chinese consumers to retrench. China's government encouraged manufacturers to

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

Super Macro. Not So Super Micro.

Oct 31, 2024 3 min read paid

Some of the air is coming out of the AI trade. Super Micro Computer hasn't been super recently. It fell 12% today after auditor Ernst & Young resigned due to inaccurate financial reporting, and is now down 66% over the past six months (chart). Super Micro Computer is a key vendor for building out Nvidia-based clusters of servers used for training and deploying AI models Meta and Microsoft

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

Powell Is Too Dovish

Oct 10, 2024 3 min read paid

The monetary policy hawks may be coming home to roost at the Fed's November 6-7 meeting. September's CPI was hotter-than-expected, thanks to sticky services inflation. Meanwhile, Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the other doves on the Federal Open Market Committee who worried about a weakening economy have less credibility since Friday's jobs report showed the unemployment rate fell further and payrolls reached a new

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

The Economic Week Ahead: October 7-11

Oct 6, 2024 3 min read paid

This week's inflation indicators should show that it continues to moderate toward the Fed's 2.0% target. Also, this week's initial unemployment claims (Thu) will be for the same week that October's payroll employment report will reflect. That should provide a sense of how Hurricane Helene (and some workers' strikes) might have impacted the next monthly jobs report. Of course, we

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

A Safe Haven In A World Of Troubles

Sep 23, 2024 3 min read paid

The US is a tranquil island in a sea of troubles. Geopolitical turmoil poses a threat to the continued prosperity of the US. Like Hamlet, American foreign policymakers need to answer the following question: "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them?" In the US, the

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

The Economic Week Ahead: September 23-27

Sep 22, 2024 3 min read paid

This week's economic indicators should confirm our view that the Fed cut the federal funds rate (FFR) by 50bps (rather than 25bs) last week just as the economy is rebounding from its recent soft patch. Fed Governor Chris Waller's Friday comments on CNBC suggest even previously hawkish FOMC members are now onboard Chair Jerome Powell's easing train. Meanwhile, regional manufacturing surveys (Tue & Thu)

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

CPI Triggered Stock Market Hissy Fit

Sep 11, 2024 3 min read

This morning's CPI report showed inflation continues to moderate. Nevertheless, stock prices initially fell sharply on the news. While the headline CPI was up 0.2% m/m as expected, the core rose 0.3% instead of the expected 0.2%. That minor difference convinced lots of traders that the Fed would cut the federal funds rate (FFR) by 25bps rather than 50bps on September 18. Nevertheless, the

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

The Economic Week Ahead: September 9-13

Sep 8, 2024 3 min read paid

This week's economic indicators will be primarily focused on inflation. Barring any unexpected surprises on the inflation front, the financial markets may care more about the few labor market indicators. The FOMC entered the blackout period ahead of its September meeting yesterday, sparing markets from an extra source of volatility. We expect the combination of a normalizing hiring, inflation, and interest rate environment (a.k.a. Immaculate Disinflation)

Ed Yardeni
Eric Wallerstein

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