Rate Volatility's Market Implications

Higher-For-Longer Risk For Rates Drives Up Treasury Yields

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday conceded that inflation progress has stalled and the case for rate cuts has weakened. The 10-year Treasury yield is paying attention and rose to 4.67%, the highest since Nov. 6. The Treasury market has convinced the crowd to demand a higher yield.

Pre-FOMC: A Different Type Of Taper

The Federal Reserve is considering reducing the pace of quantitative tightening. The Fed's securities holdings have dropped from $8.5 trillion to $6.97 trillion. Kevin Flanagan says the Fed's ultimate goal is to have only Treasuries on its balance sheet. He says a "QT taper" is not on the immediate horizon.

Reflation Trade Is The New Bullish Narrative

Economic reflation is becoming the next bullish narrative as equity valuation increases continue to outpace earnings gains. The last time Wall Street focused on the reflation trade was in 2009. Interest rates, gold, and commodity prices have increased in the past few months. The house view for 2024 remains intact.

Inflation Progress May Be Bumpy, But Is Likely To Continue

Home Market Outlook Economy Analysis Inflation Progress May Be Bumpy, But Is Likely To Continue. Inflation cooled substantially last year, but upside surprises in early 2024 for the US and Europe have many investors concerned. Global central banks seem to be making continued progress. In inflation, inflation is improving in more major economies.

A (Un)Certain Framework

The FOMC has shifted away from specific metrics and adopted a more ambiguous strategy. The Fed has been using a varied set of targets for monetary policy, but the relevance of these data points is questioned. The FomC's outlook for inflation has become increasingly tilted to the upside.

Weekly Market Pulse: Are Higher Interest Rates Good For The Economy?

Interest rates surged last week on the back of a hotter-than-expected inflation report. The rise in rates last week pushed the 10-year to its highest level since the peak at 5% in October of last year. Gold has been setting new highs, trading above $2400.

Rate Cuts Off The Table For Near-Term Outlook: Futures Market

Fed funds futures indicate that interest rate cuts are unlikely in the months ahead. The policy-sensitive US 2-year Treasury yield has downgraded prospects for a near-term rate cut. The implied probability is heavily skewed toward no rate cuts for the next two FOMC meetings in May and June.

U.S. Household Spending Holds Firm

Retail sales beat all expectations. US retail sales rose a very robust 0.7% month-on-month in March versus 0.4% expected. With jobs, inflation, and activity all beating expectations, the Federal Reserve is in no position to cut interest rates. We expect spending and inflation to slow, but the Fed won't be contemplating rate cuts.

S&P 500 Sees More Fallout From Delayed Rate Cut Expectations

The repercussions of delayed rate cuts continued to shake out in the U.S. Stock market in the past week. The S&P 500 dropped a little over 1.5% from where it ended the previous week to close at 5,123.41 on Friday, 12 April 2024. Bad news came in the form of diminished earning expectations for big banks. The CME Group's FedWatch Tool now projects the Fed will hold the Federal Funds Rate steady until 31 July 2024.

Earnings Growth Not Just About Tech

Weekly Report: what happened at TTT last week (0408-0412)?

U.S. Resilience Scuppers The Case For Early Rate Cuts

US economy continues to grow strongly, but inflation is running too high for comfort. Inflation is still higher than the Fed's 2% target. Business surveys suggest the economy is weaker than reported by official data. Ongoing strength means a June rate cut looks unlikely for the U.S.

Federal Reserve Policy Rate Path: An Evolving Picture

Strong economic data has led to significant shifts in market expectations for when the Federal Reserve will begin cutting policy rates. Financial market expectations have now shifted from six rate cuts to just two cuts this year. The first rate reduction is now expected to come in September. The Fed continues to expect to cut rates this year, but there is a risk to this forecast.

Global Market Perspectives Q2 2024: What's Not To Like?

Home Market Outlook Today's Market Perspectives Q2 2024: What's Not To Like? U.S. Economy continues to grow, overshadowing other major global economies of 2023. With most other global economies still struggling, the U.s. Will remain the strongest global performer.

Flash Insights: March Inflation - Yet Another Reason To Delay Easing

US headline and core Consumer Price Index topped expectations - both rising 0.4%. Transportation, medical and other personal services largely drove the rise. Core goods CPI turned negative once again - down 0.2% m/m. On a six-month annualized basis, core CPI is now near 4%, while supercore CPI is above 6%.

2 Things About The PPI: March Seasonal Adjustments Were Huge, And 3-Month Rates All Jumped

Producer Price Index jumped by 6.2% annualized in March from February. The three-month rate of the PPI jumped 7.8% in March, the highest since June 2022. Seasonal adjustments in March were much larger than in the years before the pandemic. The PPI is seasonally adjusted, and all three- month rates all jumped in March.

Easy For Some, Harder For Most

The Federal Reserve Needs To Raise Interest Rates 0.25%

The Federal Reserve needs to raise their Fed funds target rate by 0.25% at their May 1 meeting. The Fed's 2% inflation target is considered optimal for economic growth and stability. Current interest rates are not historically high, and there is no need for a rate cut. Inflation figures are trending up and employment numbers are strong.

Anatomy Of A Recession Update: What's Different About This Cycle?

Jeffrey Schulze, Head of Economic and Market Strategy at ClearBridge Investments, discusses the updated ClearBridge Recession Risk Dashboard. He says immigration has increased the growth potential of the US economy more than usual. He also shares his views on US equities and the impact of the Magnificent Seven.