NOTHING NEW FROM POWELL YESTERDAY...
Fed Chairman Powell reiterated the Federal Reserve's cautious stance on interest-rate cuts, stating that they would wait and observe before making any decisions. While Powell didn't introduce any significant changes, his comment provided relief to Wall Street by suggesting that recent inflation data hadn't substantially altered the overall economic outlook. He also reiterated the likelihood of rate reductions at some point during the year. “On inflation, it is too soon to say whether the recent readings represent more than just a bump,” Mr. Powell stated. “We do not expect that it will be appropriate to lower our policy hashtag#rate until we have greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably down toward 2 percent.” At the same time, he said that cuts to the benchmark federal funds rate are “likely to be appropriate at some point this year” as he does not believe “inflation is reversing higher.”
SUMMARY OF US MARCH ADP JOBS REPORT:
1. The U.S. economy added a higher-than-expected 184,000 jobs in March, as per ADP, easily beating forecasts for +148,000. 2. The number of monthly job gains was the highest in eight months (July 2023) 3. February number was also revised upwards. 4. Wage growth accelerated for those who changed jobs, rising +10% from a year earlier. Key Takeaway: The pickup in jobs growth supports the case that the labor market remains strong, and the economy continues to hold up better than expected. The ADP report does not point to imminent Fed rate cuts as markets continue to push back the timing of the first move. Source: Jesse Cohen, Trading Economics
The era of fiscal dominance
source: MacroAlf. Inflation-adjusted US fiscal deficits popping up at: - World War I - World War II - Great Financial Crisis - Covid - 2023 Find the outlier...
Eurozone inflation cools, setting stage for June rate cut:
Headline CPI slowed to 2.4% YoY in March from 2.6% in February below consensus forecast of 2.5%. Core CPI slowed to 2.9% from 3.1%, again below economists' expectations to reach lowest level in >2yrs. But there were signs that inflationary pressures have yet to ease in labor-intensive parts: Service Price inflation +4.0% YoY, unch from 4 preceding mths. (via DJ, Bloomberg thru HolgerZ).
Is there a chance for the us to start slowing down the pace of debt increase?
Well... think about this: "I'm the king of debt. I'm great with debt. Nobody knows debt better than me." - Donald Trump Source: Ronald-Peter Stoeferle, CMT, CFTe, MSTA
German inflation slowed to 2.2% in March from 2.5% in February as expected but core CPI more sticky.
Core inflation slowed to 3.3% from 3.4% in Feb. Source: Bloomberg, HolgerZ
Cartoon of the Day by Hedgeye
$34.6 TRILLION and counting... Are we past the point of no return?
Central banks cut rates at the fastest pace since heading into the pandemic.
Source: BofA, The Daily Shot
