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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Here We Go Again

Here We Go Again It was just a month ago when weak nonfarm payroll data was released and markets swooned. It wasn’t the only reason; the unwind of the Yen carry trade also had an impact, but the nonfarm payrolls (NFP) number rekindled growth concerns, albeit briefly. Since then Fed Chair Powell has shifted the […]
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Turning Point

Turning Point In Friday’s speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, Fed Chair Powell confirmed what the stock market has been anticipating – it is time to adjust monetary policy, that is, lower interest rates. By the time the first cut is made in September, it will have been almost a year since the Fed […]
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What, Me Worry?

What, Me Worry? The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) held their meeting this week and as usual, it created some wild swings on Wall Street. What caused the ruckus this time was a market that had been leaning toward fewer and fewer rates cuts and some early chatter about maybe the next move had to […]
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