Podcast: This Morning's Market Angst

Consumers Are Feeling Really Good About the Here and Now, A Little Less So Going Forward, And They're Smelling Some Inflation Coming

One of the most watched consumer sentiment surveys is the one performed monthly by the University of Michigan (it's an input to our macro index). The preliminary June survey, released this morning, was interesting.

This Morning's Log Entry: A Followup To Yesterday's Blog Post

6/14/18 (Thursday)

The Fed and the ECB meetings played out precisely as we scripted  yesterday: The Fed was more hawkish with 4 hikes this year now being the consensus, and the ECB softened up by pushing QE through year-end, and announcing that – as economic things currently stand -- interest rates won’t be touched until we’re well into 2019.

The Fed Says The Economy's In "Great" Shape, And Won't Weigh In On Fiscal Policy, However.....

As you've noticed, we're not the least bit shy in expressing our concerns over the potential for an increase in protectionism between us and our trading partners. Listening this morning to Fed Chairman Powell's post-meeting press conference, he had to field a few questions on the topic.

Today's Log Entry: The Dollar vs The Euro

Currencies have my attention this week; particularly the U.S. dollar and the Euro.

Small Businesses Are Feeling Really Good!

Three of the inputs to our PWA Macro Index have to do with sentiment among small business owners; the folks who employ 2/3rds of America's working population.

This Morning's Podcast: A little on North Korea, straight scoop on trade, inflation and central banks (all in 4 minutes)