Jaws

Jaws Just When You Thought it was Safe to go in the Water… Last week we wrote about how inflation was starting to perk up again. This week, the Fed cut the Fed Funds rate another 0.25%, but at the press conference on Wednesday, Chair Powell noted that progress on inflation had stalled and “From […]
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Has the Inflation Demon Been Slayed?

Has the Inflation Demon Been Slayed? The Federal Reserve would sure like us to think so, but evidence is beginning to build that it might be harder to achieve and maintain 2% inflation than the Fed would like. The late, great economist, Milton Freidman, said many times that only government creates inflation (link) and the […]
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About-Face

About Face The governmental about-face on Bitcoin and crypto currencies in general has been quite astounding. The Biden administration had been a roadblock to general acceptance of Bitcoin, but that began to turn in 2023 as the Treasury Dept eased their stance against Bitcoin ETFs (which eventually started trading in early 2024). The governmental concern […]
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The Verdict

The Verdict Last week we mentioned the Wall Street adage ‘buy the rumor, sell the news’ and wondered how markets would react to the first rate cut. The answer still isn’t clear. On Wednesday, the market swung wildly right after the 50 bps rate cut was announced. That is typical right after a Fed announcement, […]
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Not So Fast!

Not So Fast! The rate cut train was building momentum when a strong 2Q GDP report hit and stopped that train in its tracks. The stock market was already on edge as the early earnings reports, including the tech sector, have either not been up to par, or simply failed to impress. The earnings bar […]
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Sudden Impact

Sudden Impact The past month has been a period of “sudden impacts”, both politically and economically. Over the next several months, both should reach some resolution. Politics and Markets Everyone has their opinion of the political situation in the US, most of which are not especially positive. We always try to avoid politics, but the […]
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The Big Picture

The Big Picture One of the great problems writing this missive from week to week is getting too buried in day-to-day events. When that happens, it is very easy to lose sight of the big picture – the very big trends that often occur less than once in a lifetime, but can have monumental impact […]
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