The first headline I read this morning was “Stocks pare gains on second wave fears” while the second read “Stocks rally on COVID recovery optimism.” – as they say in Germany, klar wie Kloßbrühe! S&P futures show the market for U.S. equities set to open about a half a percent […]

Happy FEDnesday everyone! Our friends over at the Federal Open Market Committee will conclude their 3rd two-day meeting of 2020 today (the mid-march gathering was cancelled with 5 other unscheduled meetings taking place that month). Investors are not expecting any movement on rates as the federal funds rate (the rate […]

“The disconnect between what the average person sees happening in the world and what they see happening in the financial markets is getting wider and wider”-Marshall Gittler, BDSwiss Global markets continue to rally this week, amidst ongoing civil unrest in the world’s largest economy, as the MSCI world equity index […]

According to the consumer research firm Nielsen, U.S. sales of mints are down 30% YoY at stores with gum following closely behind down 28%. Don’t worry, there isn’t concern of a wide spread pandemic of bad breath, though, as toothpaste and mouth wash sales are up ~12% in the same […]

“Asset prices remain vulnerable to significant declines should the pandemic worsen, the economic fallout prove more adverse, or financial system strains re-emerge”-Federal Reserve Bi-Annual Financial Stability Report The S&P500 is down 1% in early trading this morning as vaccine experts raised caution yesterday about too much public optimism over the […]

It’s beginning to feel like 2018 again. Investors are getting spooked with escalating tensions between the United States and China. The Trump Administration is putting public pressure on the FED to lower interest rates. Central banks are urging governments to tap their fiscal policymaking powers as interest rates approach negative […]

Ahead of the Friday release of April’s Jobs report, with markets expecting to see a drop of 22 million jobs, several Federal Reserve speakers have been taking the podium this week to share their wisdom on our economic outlook as a country. Some participants in America’s interest rate setting body […]

In the current version of normal, almost all meetings have become virtual. The Federal Reserve’s regular assembly of the Federal Open Market Committee is no exception to this phenomenon. Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his fellow interest rate gurus will conclude their April meeting via videoconference today and Chair Powell […]

Looking for a new hobby during this shelter in place? Some people are baking banana bread and playing barista, but why not try oil storage? Have some extra space in the garage or a few rain barrels you don’t need? With oil futures plummeting to an all-time low yesterday, they […]

“We are now seeing the true effects of the coronavirus on the housing industry,” said Bill Banfield, Quicken Loans executive vice president of capital markets. “Despite the fact that construction can continue during shelter-in-place orders, home buying demand has plummeted and builders are seeing materially lower foot traffic.” Yesterday, markets watched U.S. […]