The Shockwave offer that DKI predicted in December happened this week with Johnson & Johnson agreeing to pay $335 per share in cash. DKI subscribers celebrated! The PMI came in hot. Don’t want to read the details? The conclusion is “higher for longer”. More insane calls by “experts” crying for lower interest rates in order … Read more
This was a big week for people who follow macroeconomic news. The Federal Reserve kept rates and the dot plot unchanged, but the press release was carefully worded to be opaque. We’ll explain why. After more than a decade of near and even below-zero interest rates at the Bank of Japan, they finally responded to … Read more
In December, we produced a version of the 5 Things titled “The Smart People Doing Smart Things Issue”. This time, we’re not so positive. This was a week of people being consistently wrong including Bitcoin bears who refuse to apply a consistent lens for their thesis when it’s not working, Fed doves who keep insisting … Read more
Every week in January, we’ve been pointing out the inconsistencies we see in macro-economic data. The trend becomes even more pronounced this week with contradictory insight on the economy being provided by the GDP report, the Fed’s preferred inflation metric, and the purchasing manager’s index. The results are so confusing that commentary by S&P Global … Read more
The first estimate of 4Q GDP came out this morning. Growth of 3.3% was well above expectations of 2%. As usual, we’ll go through a couple of adjustments. DKI adjusts for change in private inventories because it reflects inventory stocking or de-stocking as opposed to actual economic activity. 4Q inventory additions were only .07% which … Read more
It was a big week for spending. The consumer bought huge amounts of holiday gifts. (For my fellow Michiganders, the consumer did get much on sale because they require big savings.) The government bought a big positive revised GDP print. And Sheldon Adelson’s widow, Miriam, bought most of a basketball team. If you don’t want … Read more
This piece was originally published on November 27th, 2023. Overview: Market pundits have been spending the last two years predicting recessions. The typical setup right now is they project it will happen in the next 2-3 quarters. Every week, I see pundits projecting a recession in 1H 2024. Many of them are the same people … Read more
