Making Sense

One of my favorite poem is by Kahlil Gibran and thought I'd share a couple of lines with you all...  Do not live half a life  and do not die a half death If you accept, then express it bluntly,  Do not mask it If you refuse then be clear about it for an ambiguous refusal is but a weak acceptance Do not accept half a solution,  Do not believe half truths,  Do not dream half a dream,  Do not fantasize about half hopes To reach and not arrive, Work and not work The half is a mere moment of inability, but you are able for you are not half a being You are a whole that exists to live a life not half a life” On that note, quick weekly roundup for the US markets below: The Fed Fund Futures are pricing in 88% probability of a rate cut by September Policy.  The Atlanta FED GDPNow Estimates for Q3 growth readings are running at 2.8%. The Cleveland Fed estimates for Core CPI and Core PCE are running at 0.27% and 0.22% respectively mom.  In the last blog piece...

Just in, PBOC would cut the CRR by 50 bps from Feb 5 and cut re-lending and re-discount rates interest rates bby 25 bps for the rural sector and small firms from Jan 25.  Overnight, U.S equities continued the trend higher after breaking out of the right-angled triangle. Three targets are in sight for the S&P 500. AB=CD Target of 4908, Right Angled Triangle break out target of 4935 and Trendline resistance close to 5075. If we cross the trendline resistance, then the next meaningful resistance comes in at 5180 which is the 1.27% of the move from 4820 to 3492. The implied market pricing for Fed Fund Rates moved 4 bps lower to 137 bps of cumulative rate cuts and March is now pricing in 12.5 bps of rate cuts. The US2s10s tightened 4.4 bps to 24 bps. Yields High Low Close DoD ▲ US 2Y          4.42          4.37 ...

Interest Rate Pricing off Fed Fund Futures pared back 36 bps of cuts this week as Comments from Federal Reserve’s Christopher Waller reinforced what markets were thinking – sharp deviation in Futures pricing from Fed Projections without a corresponding deterioration in Economic Data. UST bears were emboldened and the data release supported the Soft-Landing Narrative. S&P 500 closed at all time highs.   USD did not participate in Tsy rally at close of last week. USTs caught up to the USD bearishness. USD index closed the week higher by 0.80%. Atlanta Fed GDPNOW Final Est for Q4 GDP are at 2.4%, Control Group Retail Sales rose 0.80% (est 0.20%, prior revised higher to 0.50%), Initial Jobless Claims fell to Sep 22 lows and Continuing Jobless Claims fell to levels seen in Oct 2023. So far we have not seen the trends in employment numbers as were seen in   the sharp dip in Employment component of the ISM Non-Mfg. This week’s release of the S&P PMI numbers would be close...