Fed to Cut Rates, Indicate Pause & Move to Neutral
What to Expect Today The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is going to cut interest rates by another 1/4% at 2:00pm on Wednesday. The market is expecting it and the cut has already been priced in. Any other action would be a shocker. With stocks essentially at to all-time highs, this continues to be reminiscent of 1995 when the Fed came from an overly restrictive monetary policy in 1994 to realizing they screwed up and quickly played catch up. Stocks […]
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Date: October 30, 2019
Here Comes Another Cut, But Will the Markets Celebrate?!?!
What to Expect Today The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is going to cut interest rates by another 1/4% at 2:00pm on Wednesday. The market is expecting it and the cut has already been priced in. Any other action would be a shocker. With stocks so close to all-time highs, this is again reminiscent of 1995 when the Fed came from an overly restrictive monetary policy in 1994 to realizing they screwed up and quickly played catch up. Stocks had […]
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Date: September 18, 2019
Powell’s Arrogance & Ignorance to Continue – Here Comes the Cut
What to Expect Today Let’s get the worst kept secret out of the way. The FOMC is going to cut interest rates today by 1/4%. I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t believe that short-term rates are going down today, regardless of whether they agree or not. The big question is going to be what Powell says after that. Is this an “insurance” cut as in one and done? Or, is it the beginning of a rate cut cycle like […]
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Date: July 31, 2019
Post Fed – A Rate Cut – SERIOUSLY?!?!
Jay Powell & Company gave the markets exactly what they wanted on Wednesday. They threaded the needle which is no easy feat. As someone who has been very critical of the Fed, I have to give them props for not upsetting the apple cart. The problem now is that markets are pricing in a 100% chance of a interest rate cut in July which doesn’t sit well with me. If stocks continue rallying, how can the Fed really give it […]
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Date: June 21, 2019
Insurance Rate Cut, Oasis in a Recessionary Desert, Dow 30,000
Here we go. We went a whole two FOMC meetings without the media labeling them something like, “the most important Fed meeting ever”. That was a whole 12 week respite. But fear not, there is widespread labeling today that there has never been a more important FOMC meeting than the one ending today at 2:00 pm. Before I begin to unpack today and what lies ahead, I want to extend a thank you for the support I have received since […]
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Date: June 19, 2019
The Most Unanticipated FOMC Meeting
The Most Unanticipated FOMC Meeting Today is one of the most unanticipated Fed statement days in recent memory. How will we ever survive without hearing that “today is the most important Fed day ever”? I say that because absolutely nothing is really expected today. Chairman Jay Powell did his 170 degree turn earlier this year and the Fed is now on a new course. Okay. Maybe, I am exaggerating a little bit. Perhaps, we will hear about their plans to […]
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Date: March 20, 2019
Markets Not Waiting on Fed Statement Today
Powell Turns 180 Degrees and Loses Credibility Fed statement day is here once again. Yippee! Chair Jay Powell did something I don’t think I have seen in 30 years in the business. He did an almost 180 degree turn in just three weeks after raising rates and forging full steam ahead with more asset sales on December 19. When the markets, both stock and credit, accelerated to the downside, Powell eventually walked back his very hawkish stance to try and […]
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Date: January 30, 2019
The Absolute Arrogance, Ignorance & Incompetence of the Fed
Here we go. Cue the media’s hype. “The single most important Fed meeting, perhaps of All-TIME!” Oh brother. Model for the Day Let’s start with the model for the day. As with every Fed statement day, 90% of the time stocks stay in a plus or minus .50% range until 2pm before the fireworks take place. With pre-market action indicating a much higher open, the opportunity is there for a momentum trade to the upside from the open until 2pm […]
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Date: December 19, 2018
Not So Special Fed Day Update. Recession & Bear Market
Normally, I send out a very detailed update when the Federal Reserve concludes their every 6 week meeting. Given the volume of updates I have published lately, I am sure most of you have a little Paul Schatz fatigue. So for someone not known for brevity as my colleague,Renee, says all the time, I am going to keep this short and to the point and then work on a very important Canaries in the Coal Mine. The Fed concludes their […]
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Date: November 8, 2018
***Fed Update – Rates Going Up Today. More to Follow***
Stock Market Behavior Models for the Day As with every Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement day, there is a model for the stock market to follow pre and post announcement. Certain environments have very strong tendencies while others do not. Over the past few meetings, many of the strongest trends were muted and today looks a lot like the August 1 meeting day. I drew arrows below so you can see what the S&P 500 looked like heading into […]
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Date: September 26, 2018
