Syz the moment

- Inflation is projected to fall temporarily to the Bank’s 2% target in the second quarter of this year before rising again in the third and fourth, due to the varying contribution of energy prices to annual comparisons. - Headline inflation is not expected to return to target again until late 2026, the Bank’s newest Monetary Policy Report projected. - Bank of England: 6 votes to hold rates, 2 votes to hike, 1 vote to cut This is the 6th time in the BoE's 295 meeting history that we've seen a 3 way split vote. On most occasions (except for '06) - the doves have won & BoE have gone on to cut rates sharply https://lnkd.in/e64nMDB6

Could the combo "March cut is fully priced out + regional bank stress building" trigger a temporary spike of the VIX? Source: Carl Quintanilla

On Monday, Nigeria de facto devalued the naira by ~30% (after another ~30% devaluation in June). And Egypt is under pressure to devalue too, with the pound ~50% weaker in the black market. Source: Javier Blas Bloomberg

Source: Bloomberg, C.Barraud

Mortgage demand is down 14% over the last year and 40% from pre-pandemic levels. Source: The Kobeissi Letter, re:venture

Per Bloomberg, the Universa Investments advisor who correctly called the 2008 financial crash cast a dire warning about the US debt situation, which has seen the federal debt balance notch $34 trillion for the first time ever to start the year. As long as Congress keeps up its rapid pace of spending, those debts are going to continue to pile up, which could have disastrous consequences for the US economy, Taleb said this week at an event held by Universa Investments. In fact, rising debt in the US is a "white swan," Taleb said, and is an event that poses an obvious risk to markets versus a "black swan" event, which can occur without much warning. That death spiral would necessitate "something to come in from the outside, or maybe some kind of miracle," Taleb said, when asked how the shock would play out, adding that the situation has made him more pessimistic about the political system in the West. Source: Business Insider

In a nutshell · The FOMC voted unanimously to leave benchmark rate unchanged - as expected - in target range of 5.25%-5.5% for fourth straight meeting while making significant changes to statement · However, the statement was very much more hawkish than expected, as The Fed pushed back aggressively against the dovish market stance. Market reaction: -> The 10-year Treasury yield fell more than 7 basis points to 3.98%. The yield on the 2-year Treasury was last down about 8 basis points at 4.27% -> US equity indices are retreating. Gold is paring gains, dollar is recovering. -> Odds of a March Fed rate cut plummet from 47% to 31% after the Fed interest rate decision. Our take: The U.S. economy enters 2024 from a position of strength. For instance, the S&P PMI came in higher than expected last week. Q4 GDP growth in the U.S. came in at 3.3% annualized, well above expectations of 2.0% growth. And while disinflation is firmly in place, the inflation rate remains above the central bank target. There is thus no reason for the Fed to rush. Nevertheless, we still believe they will have to cut rates at some point for the following reasons: 1/ Keeping rates too high for too long can have long-lasting effects on US economic growth 2/ Keeping rates steady while inflation is coming down imply rising real rates. Keeping positive real rates for too long at a time when Uncle Sam is facing $33T debt and surging interest rates payments is unsustainable

Core CPI slows to 3.4% in January from 3.5% in December, lowest level June 2022. Energy in deflation, hashtag#energy prices dropped -2.8% YoY, while Food CPI slowed to 3.8% from 4.5% in December. Source: HolgerZ, Bloomberg