Episodes
US equities were higher this week as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq all ended the week at fresh record highs. The Trump election victory sparked a big rally across risk assets. Treasuries sold off sharply following Trump's election victory on inflationary concerns, but ended only slightly weaker on the short end and firmer on the long end on thoughts policy measures might not be enacted as quickly as expected. November FOMC meeting ended with a 25 bp cut, as expected, to 4.5-4.75% in a unanimous...
Published 11/08/24
US equities were mostly higher in Thursday trading. The FOMC announcement was the big story of the day, with the Fed opting for a 25 basis point cut as expected. . It was fairly quiet elsewhere as some of yesterday's election-related outperformers trim outsized gains.
Published 11/07/24
Published 11/07/24
Stocks posted a sizable rally as the S&P 500 put in its best session in over two years, sparked by the Trump election victory and a potential for a Red Sweep (House still not yet decided). Today's Treasury auction of 25 billion dollars of 30-year bonds was well received. The FOMC announcement and the Powell press conference is set for Thursday afternoon, with the Fed widely expected to deliver a 25 bp rate cut, while Powell is likely to stress data dependency when it comes to policy...
Published 11/06/24
US equities were higher in Tuesday trading as stocks ended near best levels. Upside tabbed to latest data that offered softer/no-landing support, with ISM services showing improvements in both employment and inflation metrics. October ISM services beat, highest since Jul-22. New orders decelerated, but employment back in expansion territory and prices index continued to slow.
Published 11/05/24
US equities were mostly lower and mixed in Monday trading, though stocks finished off worst levels. A very quiet session today as the market waits for some key catalysts this week, notably tomorrow’s US election, a widely expected 25 basis point rate cut from the Fed, China’s NPC meeting, and 103 more S&P 500 companies scheduled to report. In macro news, factory orders declined largely in line with expectations, down for the fourth time the in last five months in September.
Published 11/04/24
Major US equity indices were down for the week. Earnings reports dominated the calendar, with some mixed takeaways from the five Mag-7 names on the schedule. The week's big economic report was Friday's nonfarm payrolls release for October, showing only 12K in job gains for the month (and revising down August and September by a combined 112K jobs).
Published 11/01/24
US equities finished lower in Thursday trading, ending near worst levels. Today's risk-off atmosphere was largely a function of disappointing Mag 7 earnings, though there was nothing in the results or guidance to really shift the favorable narrative surrounding the AI secular growth theme. On the economic front, initial jobless claims are down again, down 12K week over week to 216K versus consensus 227K.
Published 10/31/24
US equities finished lower in Wednesday trading, selling off after midday and ending near worst levels, with the Dow Jones, S&P500, and Nasdaq closing down 22bps, 33bps, and 56bps respectively. Earnings were a major focus today, with more than half of the S&P 500 constituents now having reported; Alphabet, AMD, Caterpillar among notable reporters. Big beat for October ADP private payrolls, printing at 233K vs 108K consensus. Q3 GDP grew at a 2.8% SAAR against forecasts for 2.6%....
Published 10/30/24
US equities finished mixed in Tuesday trading, a bit off best levels. Earnings takeaways were mixed to weaker with DHI-US results/guidance highlighting the lagged effects of the Fed's pivot. Today's stronger consumer confidence supportive of the broader soft-/no-landing traction. October consumer confidence well ahead of estimates, biggest jump since Mar-21. 
Published 10/29/24
US equities were higher in a fairly quiet, fairly rangebound Monday trading. The recent backup in yields remains the biggest focus. In macro news, October’s Dallas Fed Index beat with its best reading since April 2022.
Published 10/28/24
US equities were mostly lower this week. The biggest focus was on another backup in yields, extending this month's sizable jump with the 2Y back above 4%, and 10Y back to July levels (before the Fed cut by 50bp in August). In a busy week of Fedspeak before next week's blackout period ahead of the November FOMC meeting, Fed officials continued to argue that they see further rate cuts ahead, but there are some questions around the pace.
Published 10/25/24
US equities were mostly higher in Thursday trading as the S&P posted its first gain in four sessions. Earnings dominated the headlines with takeaways mixed and increased talk about a higher bar following the recent run. On today's economic calendar, initial claims came in well below consensus after some recent weather-related noise.
Published 10/24/24
US equities finished lower in Wednesday trading, though ended off worst levels, with the Dow Jones, S&P500, and Nasdaq closing down 96bps, 92bps, and 160bps respectively. Backup in yields biggest near-term headwind, reflecting soft/no-landing optimism but also rising re-inflationary fears, with 10Y breakevens at their highest level since June. Fed's latest Beige Book noted economic activity little changed since September. Existing home sales for September posted a surprise decline, coming...
Published 10/23/24
US equities were mixed in Tuesday trading as stocks ended little changed though off worst levels. Rate stabilization has provided some cushion from risk off tone that spilled over to this morning. Earnings today a mixed bag with some scrutiny on select cyclical and rate-sensitive names.
Published 10/22/24
US equities finished lower in uneventful Monday trading. This week starts the peak of Q3 earnings with 112 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report. Nothing on the economic calendar today and a slow data week ahead, though a bit of Fedspeak.
Published 10/21/24
Major US equity indices were higher this week, with the Dow, S&P, and Nasdaq all up for the sixth consecutive week (and the S&P closing at another fresh record high on Friday). The soft-/no-landing narrative continued to gain support from cooperative economic releases, particularly Thursday's robust September retail sales report which saw healthy m/m growth in control-group sales. Elsewhere, Q3 earnings results have continued to point toward growth, with the blended EPS y/y growth...
Published 10/18/24
US equities finished narrowly mixed in Thursday trading. Growth and momentum were providing leadership in today's trading, with the AI secular growth theme the big focus following Taiwan Semiconductor earnings and guidance, pushing semis to the best day in three weeks. September headline retail sales came in a bit higher than expected, up 0.4% vs Street consensus of 0.3%.
Published 10/17/24
US equities finished higher in Wednesday trading, ending near best levels though the S&P fell short of another all time high. Market gains broadened out on a largely catalyst-free day. Earnings activity continues to pick up while macro is quiet into a busier Thursday featuring retail sales, an expected 25 basis point rate cut from the ECB, and a China press conference to detail property support measures.
Published 10/16/24
US equities finished mostly lower in Tuesday trading, ending near worst levels. Semis sold off following soft bookings, guidance and demand commentary from ASML. Financial/bank earnings were fairly well received though bar had moved higher following results on Friday. Fed Empire manufacturing, which printed at (11.9), well below consensus for +3.0 and September's +11.5.
Published 10/15/24
US equities finished higher in fairly uneventful Monday trading. It was a quiet start to the week with the US bond market closed for holiday, plus a waiting game for more Q3 earnings and a big macro data day on Thursday. Earnings season ramps up a bit this week with 43 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report, representing about 9% of market cap.
Published 10/14/24
US equities were higher this week, with the S&P and Nasdaq each logging their fifth straight week of gains. There was a blizzard of Fed-speak this week, though nothing to seriously shift market expectations for another 25bp FOMC rate cut in November. September's headline and core CPI readings came in a bit ahead of consensus, seeing increases in categories such as airline fares, used cars, and vehicle insurance. Headline and core September PPI, on the other hand, were largely in line with...
Published 10/11/24
US equities finished lower in a fairly choppy Thursday trading. Some of today’s downside was tabbed to a hotter than expected CPI print, though both analysts and Fed officials played down the report, noting that it's just one month of data. The latest earnings updates are also offering mixed takeaways around consumer trends.
Published 10/10/24
US equities finished higher in Wednesday trading, with the Dow Jones, S&P500, and Nasdaq closing up 103bps, 71bps, and 60bps respectively. Today’s $39B 10Y auction tailed 40bp, and dealer take was the lowest since 2018. Department of Justice is considering asking federal judge to force Google to sell parts of its operations. Hurricane Milton has bounced between a Category 4 and Category 5 storm today ahead of its expected landfall in central Florida Thursday morning.
Published 10/09/24