Blog Archives

Going into Labor

Labor Jobs Inflation Employment 2-Year Treasury Notes

Last week I wrote about how important the 2-Year Treasury note yield was to ascertain how close the Fed was to stopping its rate hikes and how high the Federal Funds Rate may reach. Based on past cycles and declaring that the 2-Year yield had peaked at 4.73% in November,

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Four Eyes on The Two-Year

Four Eyes on The 2 Year Treasury

Introductory note: I wear contacts and glasses, so that’s why I have four eyes paying close attention to the 2-Year Treasury Note yield.

The Federal Reserve has embarked on six tightening cycles since 1988, with the most recent having commenced in March 2022 and one that is still in process.

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Economic Tug of War

Economic Tug of War

Are jobs a lagging indicator? That is the question as last week was a very ugly one in terms of the Apple announcement and other economic reports suggesting the global economy is slowing. At the same time, the jobs report was quite stellar as the economy produced a seasonally adjusted 312,000 jobs,

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From Housing to Labor and Back Again

From Housing to Labor and Back Again

I think this chart is what keeps Jay Powell up at night. If he were convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that we were still in the same low inflation regime that had been present for decades prior to Covid,

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Riding a False Premise: The Hard Rain Scenario

Never did that before

I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken

I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children

And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard,

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Only Time Will Tell: Hedging Ahead in the Expectations of a Shifting Fed

Only Time Will Tell_ Hedging Ahead in the Expectations of a Shifting Fed

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’ll pivot back to Jay Powell and the Fed from Pete Townshend and The Who. Two of my favorite subjects 🙂

The minutes of the Fed meetings that took place November 1-2 were released last week.

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The Power of Concentration What You Need to Know

Power of Concentration Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett’s 2014 Letter to Investors – The Power of Concentration

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway’s stock price exceeded $200,000 per share for the first time in August 2014. The company was the world’s fifth most highly valued corporation in 2014 and dropped in 2022 to 6th place. The stock was propelled higher by record earnings (August 1,

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Seeking Shelter from Shelter

CPI 7.7% - shelter housing B

Last Thursday was an incredible day for virtually all markets. That is when the CPI report was released, and inflation came in a bit lighter than expected which in turn lit a fire under the bond and stock markets. The NASDAQ was up by more than 7%,

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Purchasing Power and Paris

Paris Gary and Heather October 2022

Although the hawkish Fed has made it more challenging for many businesses in the United States, it has also resulted in some beneficiaries. One is just plain old savers who, during Covid, essentially earned 0% on their idle savings. With the Fed aggressively raising short-term rates,

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Stuck in the Middle with You in London

London

I recently visited London for meetings with insurers. This is the second year in a row I went for these meetings, and the third overall. In spite of the time and cost, I came away convinced that it was well worth it,

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