Inflation

Inflation, the Fed & Too Much Happiness

Apr 12, 2023 2 min read paid

The S&P 500 fell slightly today despite the better-than-expected March CPI data this morning. Inflation continues to moderate. The headline CPI inflation rate fell from 6.0% y/y in February to 5.0% in March. However, the core rate edged up from 5.5% to 5.6%, but slowing rent inflation is likely to cool this rate in coming months. On Monday, the Federal Reserve Bank of

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead: April 10-14

Apr 9, 2023 1 min read paid

The banking crisis is bound to keep investors on edge. This week, the big banks will report their earnings. Last week, in his annual letter to JPMorgan Chase shareholders, Jamie Dimon wrote "the crisis is not yet over." The other executives at the major banks are likely to say the same during their earnings conference calls later this week. The magnitude of their concern will be revealed by

Ed Yardeni

Bond Yields Spiraling Downward

Apr 5, 2023 2 min read

What does the bond market know that the equity market doesn't? The yield on the 10-year Treasury is down from 4.25% on October 24, 2022 to 3.29% today. The S&P 500 is up 8.0% over the same period. Bond investors must believe that the banking crisis will soon morph into a credit crunch and a recession, so inflation will continue to fall perhaps

Ed Yardeni

A Dish of Mixed Nuts

Mar 28, 2023 1 min read paid

Today's economic indicators show that the labor market remains tight, while manufacturing activity remains weak. That mix supports our soft-landing scenario with inflation continuing to moderate and the Fed done (or almost done) tightening. Consider the following: (1) Consumer confidence. The labor market remains strong according to the March survey of consumer confidence conducted by the Conference Board. The “jobs hard to get” response remained very low at

Ed Yardeni

Banking on Inflation Going Downhill

Mar 15, 2023 2 min read

All of a sudden, we are hearing more chatter about deflation. Yes, that's right: deflation. The story line is that the regional banks will respond to the SVB debacle by lending less to lots of middle market businesses, especially if depositors move their funds to the money center banks or to the money markets. The result will be a credit crunch and a hard landing forcing companies to

Ed Yardeni

Inflation: Everything Everywhere But Less So

Mar 14, 2023 1 min read paid

And the Academy Award for the Biggest Economic Surprise of 2022 goes to . . . inflation. It has defied Fed expectations by being both transitory and persistent: Consumer goods inflation has been transitory, while consumer services inflation has been persistent. In any event, overall measures of consumer inflation continue to moderate. Consider the following: (1) The New York Fed’s consumer expectations survey was released on Monday with February’s results. It

Ed Yardeni

The Economic Week Ahead: March 13-17

Mar 12, 2023 2 min read paid

This week will be jam-packed with economic indicators. More important will be how government regulators deal with the SVB debacle so that it doesn't turn into an economy-wide disintermediation disaster in the event that uninsured deposits are withdrawn and parked in Treasuries instead. Our bet is that the Fed and the FDIC will act quickly to keep this from happening. For the sake of financial stability, the Fed

Ed Yardeni

Thus Spake The Fed Chair

Mar 7, 2023 2 min read paid

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is the high priest of monetary policy. His pontifications are carefully read and analyzed by his followers. We are among his followers because we are Fed watchers. Indeed, we often count how many times certain words appear in his public remarks. The word “disinflation” was uttered 11 times at Powell’s press conference on February 1. He was the only one who mentioned the word at

Ed Yardeni

Q4 Productivity & Labor Costs Going Right Way

Mar 2, 2023 2 min read paid

Bond and stock prices opened weak this morning on good news from the labor market. Good news is bad news because the Fed is trying to slow the economy to bring down inflation. So good news increases the risk of higher-for-longer interest rates. The 10-year Treasury bond yield is back above 4.00%. At 4.95%, the 2-year Treasury yield reached levels not seen in more than a decade. The

Ed Yardeni

The Rent Is Too Damn High!

Feb 27, 2023 1 min read paid

As a result of the pandemic, the demand for single-family homes soared, and so did their prices. Rising mortgage rates last year clobbered affordability for first-time homebuyers, forcing them to rent. So tenant rent inflation soared from about 2.0% y/y in early 2021 to 8.6% in the CPI during January of this year (chart). Rising mortgage rates also reduced the supply of homes. Since many homes have

Ed Yardeni

Two Too-Hot No-Landing Indicators Hit Markets

Feb 24, 2023 2 min read

The stock and bond markets reacted badly to today's stronger-than-expected personal income data and hotter-than-expected PCED. Is the economy experiencing an inflationary no-landing scenario? If so, Fed officials might conclude that the only way to bring inflation down is to push interest rates up until they cause a hard landing. More likely in our opinion is that these two indicators along with January's other economic stats

Ed Yardeni

Rent Inflation Is Moderating

Feb 21, 2023 2 min read paid

The CPI's rent of primary residence is showing no signs of peaking, rising to 8.6% y/y during January (chart). However, it is widely recognized that this measure is a laggard because it includes rents not only on new leases, but also outstanding ones. The market-based rent inflation indexes compiled by Zillow and ApartmentList have been plunging from around 17% a year ago to 6.9% and

Ed Yardeni

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