Inflation

Consumers Fretting More About Credit & Less About Inflation

Sep 11, 2023 2 min read paid

Tech stocks seem to go up whenever the bond yield stops doing so. Leading tech stocks higher today was Tesla, which is actually in the S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary sector. Morgan Stanley issued a very bullish report on the auto company's new "Dojo" supercomputer. It suggests that Tesla may also be a play on AI. Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yield remained below 4.

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead: September 11-15

Sep 9, 2023 2 min read

This could be a big week for the stock and bond markets. There will be lots of market-moving inflation indicators: Inflation expectations (Mon), small business pricing intentions (Tue), CPI (Wed), PPI (Thu), and import & export prices (Fri). There will also be a couple of business cycle indicators that could move the markets: retail sales (Thu) and industrial production (Fri). On balance, we expect that the inflation stats will confirm

Ed Yardeni

Stormy September So Far

Sep 7, 2023 1 min read paid

Good news is bad news again. The stock and bond markets sold off yesterday following better-than-expected readings for August's NM-PMI. In addition, the prices-paid indexes for both the NM-PMI and M-PMI increased in August heightening fears that inflation may have stopped moderating (chart). We disagree since both remain well below last summer's peaks. Today, Q2's revised productivity and costs report showed that hourly compensation

Ed Yardeni

PCED Inflation Rate Still On Moderating Course

Aug 31, 2023 2 min read paid

Both the headline and core PCED inflation rates rose 0.2% m/m in July. Fed Chair Jerome Powell anticipated that they would be moderate as they were in June in his Jackson Hole speech on Friday of last week. However, he said that two consecutive months of such moderation aren't enough. He wants to see inflation drop closer to the Fed's 2.0% target on

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead: August 28 - September 1

Aug 27, 2023 2 min read paid

Another fun-filled and data-packed week ahead. Hard to believe that the summer is almost over. That just gets us closer to a yearend stock market rally, but only if price and wage inflation rates continue to moderate, employment growth slows, and consumers stop binging. That's our outlook currently. We will get plenty of numbers this week which will either confirm or challenge whether we are still on the

Ed Yardeni

Dr Ed Answers Your Questions

Aug 24, 2023 2 min read

The following are some questions we have received in the comments section of our QuickTakes recently, and Dr Ed's brief answers: (1) Oaul S. asks: "Dr Ed, what's your response to inflationary concerns about a wage-price spiral triggered by big wage increases coming at UPS, and the prospect of labor unions negotiating similar wage spikes at Amazon and elsewhere?" Dr Ed says: "This

Ed Yardeni

Bond Yield Returning To Normal

Aug 21, 2023 2 min read paid

The 10-year US Treasury bond yield continued to rise today, yet stock prices rallied led by the MegaCap-8 stocks. The bond yield is returning to the levels seen prior to the period spanning the Great Financial Crisis (GFC) through the Great Virus Crisis (GVC) when the Fed kept interest rates abnormally low. And the stock market might be OK with bond yields returning to their old normal. Nevertheless, there might

Ed Yardeni

Bond Prices Go Drip, Drip, Drip

Aug 17, 2023 2 min read paid

The 10-year US Treasury bond yield rose above 4.00% at the beginning of August on better-than-expected economic data. It rose above last year's peak of 4.25% today, trading most recently at 4.32%, following the release yesterday of July's FOMC minutes, which strongly suggested that solid economic growth might keep inflation above the Fed's 2.0% target unless the Fed continues to

Ed Yardeni

China: Desperately Seeking a New Engine

Aug 16, 2023 2 min read paid

The Chinese are providing American consumers with cheaper goods. By doing so, the Chinese are increasing the purchasing power of American consumers, who are doing what they do best; they are shopping. It’s a gain for the US economy, which is getting better economic growth with lower inflation. It’s a loss for Chinese consumers, who are facing deflation and higher unemployment and dealing with the consequences of the

Ed Yardeni

Bond Vigilantes Running Into Some Resistance

Aug 14, 2023 2 min read paid

The 10-year US Treasury bond yield continues to run into resistance around 4.25%, which was last year's high (chart). The bond bears led by the Bond Vigilantes would like to see the yield rise well above that level to demonstrate that they are unhappy with the government's profligate fiscal policies. The bond bulls--including us, for now--see the current level as an attractive one if inflation

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead: August 14-18

Aug 12, 2023 2 min read paid

This week is packed with July's composite cyclical indicator releases which should ease fears that economic growth might be too strong given that real GDP is tracking at 4.1% (saar) for Q3 currently. That's quite a reversal from a few months ago when there were widespread fears of a recession. Consider the following: (1) The YRI Earned Income Proxy for private-industry wages and salaries in

Ed Yardeni

Inflation Remains On Downward Trend

Aug 10, 2023 2 min read paid

The FOMC can take the rest of the year off. The federal funds rate is now restrictive enough to bring inflation down without causing a recession, in our opinion. The banking crisis in March, Moody's recent downgrade of several regional banks, and the Fed's latest Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey all confirm that credit conditions are tightening. The economic data confirm that the economy remains resilient

Ed Yardeni

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