The PPI stands for Producer Price Index. The reason it’s important as a measure of inflation, is generally, producers see an increase in prices first. When those producers pass on price increases to consumers, we then see that as inflation reflected in a higher CPI (consumer price index) or PCE (personal consumption expenditures). I’ve been … Read more
President Trump talks about Bitcoin and he and some other politicians call for a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Plus, we have another week of tech stock obliteration. It’s not that earnings were bad; but rather, that expectations and valuations were so high. Intel $INTC is the exception. Their earnings report was bad. We also have lots … Read more
I’d like to thank Brian Scheid of S&P Global Market Intelligence for quoting me in today’s article titled Magnificent 7 stocks stumble, boosting peak views. What do you think – was it the Fed, missed earnings, or AI spending that sent these stocks down? https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/magnificent-7-stocks-stumble-boosting-peak-views-82765994
The Federal Reserve completed its July meeting today. As usual, they put out a press release and Chairman Powell had a press conference. A few bullet points to understand the situation: – The Fed kept rates unchanged for now. This was expected. – The language surrounding employment gains, the unemployment rate, and inflation was softened … Read more
We hit earnings season and with the Magnificent 7 priced for perfection, it was going to take “perfect” earnings reports to keep the market from falling. $GOOG and $TSLA showed some weakness and for the second straight week, tech leads the stock market lower. Coursera $COUR beats earnings and positions itself as an AI play … Read more
This morning, we got the June Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report. This is the preferred inflation gauge of the Federal Reserve. The PCE was up 0.1% vs last month and 2.5% vs last year. The monthly number accelerated by 0.1% and the yearly declined by 0.1%; both very small changes in trend. The 2.5% annual … Read more
DKI published a white paper in November of 2021 warning that inflation was a big and non-transitory problem. By May or June of 2022, most of the big macro strategists were already calling for Federal Reserve rate cuts despite continued high inflation. I’ve spent the past two plus years saying rate cuts would eventually come, … Read more
This was a fascinating week featuring political shifts, increased market volatility, and a week-long drop in the stock prices of the mega-cap tech leaders that have been supporting the equity market indexes the past couple of years. This week, we’re focused on higher retail sales and wondering if anything will slow the consumer. Higher jobless … Read more
When I was growing up in the Detroit area, the Zoo there did a famous commercial where the animals were getting ready to go “on stage” for the opening. At one point, all the monkeys ran to the right encouraged by one in the front saying “Ok guys, this way”. Then, all the monkeys ran … Read more
This piece was originally published on July 12th, 2024 Overview: Today we got the June Producer Price Index (PPI). The PPI is similar to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) except it measures pricing changes experienced by manufacturers and suppliers of goods and services. Because price changes in the PPI make their way into the CPI … Read more
