Under My Thumb

Under My Thumb Fed meetings usually focus on the change in current interest rates, but this week the focus was on 2024. Current rates were left unchanged, but the Fed doubled down on the ‘higher (rates) for longer’ theme. Chair Powell repeated at least a dozen times that the Fed will “proceed carefully” from here, […]
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Tale of the Tape

Tale of the Tape You have to be a very attentive student of the stock market to understand just how unusual this year has been. The year isn’t over yet, so much can change from now to the end of the year, but what has happened thus far is startling. If you read these pages […]
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Can’t Live With Them, Can’t Live Without Them

Can’t Live With Them, Can’t Live Without Them The topic here is hydrocarbons. Oil prices are creating the latest market conundrum. West Texas Intermediate is approaching the $90 level and is up double digits over the last couple of weeks. One might think that is bullish for the economy (better economy = more demand = […]
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EV’s Running Out of Customers? We’ve Seen This Movie Before!

EV’s Running Out of Customers? We’ve Seen This Movie Before! The title this week was prompted by a headline on Business Insider ”EVs are running out of customers — and some dealers don’t want them anymore”. Not long ago, this headline seemed unfathomable. The move toward green tech seemed unstoppable, and EV demand seemed insatiable, […]
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No Surprises

No Surprises The Fed meeting in Jackson Hole continues as this is written, but Chair Powell’s comments on Friday morning, the ‘highlight’ of the confab, were no surprise. Chair Powell reiterated that the inflation target is 2%, not 3% as some on Wall St. have speculated, and with rates at or near restrictive territory, any […]
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Making Ends Meet

Making Ends Meet Many market pundits are predicting that inflation will stabilize at a higher rate than the 2% Fed target. The rationale is that as inflation comes down, the Fed does not want to force inflation to 2% and risk a bad recession. As a result, Inflation is more likely to level off around […]
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China Syndrome

The China Syndrome The economic news out of China is going from bad to worse. The world continues to bet on massive government stimulus, but it never seems to happen. Could a melt-down be coming? (For you non-movie buffs, China Syndrome is a 1979 movie about a nuclear meltdown, that amazingly was released a mere […]
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