Friends   Following yesterday’s tepid CPI number was today’s better than expected (softer) PPI number. Add to that a better-than-expected retail sales number and you pretty much have a goldilocks scenario for the bulls. Inflation is taming, the consumer is spending...

Friends Stocks surged higher on a better-than-expected CPI report. Important in the CPI number was that the core which strips out food and energy was the lowest in 2 years helped by rents and shelter inflation finally beginning to falter. There is excitement that this...

Friends Late Friday Moody’s Investor Services lowered the U. S. credit rating outlook to negative from stable. Citing large fiscal deficits, the ratings agency kept a AAA rating on U. S. debt but basically indicated they are keeping a sharp eye on the proceedings....

Friends Stocks soared higher today and contrary to the rumors I have not embarked on another vacation. It wasn’t really about interest rates as yields moved little during the trading session. The Nasdaq and big tech are leading the way once again and it appears that...

Friends It was a familiar pattern today. One we have seen for months now. Interest rates moved higher on fears that the Fed might not be done raising interest rates and stocks fell. We had seen stocks move up over the past week when interest rates moved lower, and the...

Friends It certainly feels like the markets are trying to still digest last week’s gains. Neither the bears or the bulls were able to accomplish much today, and volatility has mostly dissipated. We knew it was a week that was going to be somewhat lacking with regards...

Friends   After a mild dip at the open this morning stocks moved calmly higher and held onto modest gains throughout the trading session. Though stocks have enjoyed more than a week of trading gains now, it’s still hard to find much enthusiasm for this market. The...

Friends   I’m back and the good news is it appears that I didn’t kill the market. After last week’s fireworks, today was a very quiet trading day. To recap, the economy appears to be cooling, interest rates have moved lower, and stocks have moved higher. A bit of a...

Friends   Microsoft had good earnings after the close yesterday and the shares did well today. That’s where the good news ends. Google/Alphabet looked to have decent numbers at first glance yesterday but the fear that the behemoth is losing ground in the AI race sent...

Friends   A somewhat calm bond market and good earnings from the likes of Verizon, GE, 3M, and Coca Cola helped stocks move higher, and this time it wasn’t just a handful of names that have been carrying the water all day. With that said, after the close today we will...

Friends   The bond vigilantes took shot at 5% on the 10-year Treasury Note again this morning, but like Friday morning resistance held and yields moved lower in the aftermath. The narrative developing today (encouraged by a big-name Hedge Fund manager who closed...

Friends   Stocks finished off a pretty difficult 4 day stretch today. After hitting 5% on the 10-year Treasury Note late yesterday, bonds rallied a bit with the 10-year yield moving back down towards 4.92%. But it’s likely that the 5% number will provide minor...

Friends   New day, same story. Long term interest rates moved higher, and stocks moved lower. Yes, the bulls did try to generate a little rally in stocks this morning but ultimately, they could not generate enough fire power to stem the selling tide. Confusing signs...

Friends   Well, that was ugly. Interest rates moved higher on the long end of the yield curve and stock prices moved lower. Though those companies who are reporting earnings so far seem to be beating analysts’ estimates, it appears that market conditions in general...

Friends   A much stronger than expected retail sales number sent bond yields higher this morning and stock prices lower. Stocks did recover to work their way into positive territory later in the day, but by the close the market averages had fallen back into negative...