Traders were in for a choppy session despite a Fed meeting and presser that could ultimately be summed up as “wait and see”. The FOMC chose to keep interest rates steady at 4.25%-4.5% in a widely expected move, stressing the increased risks of both higher inflation and higher unemployment. While the issued statement touched on a ‘solid’ labor market and underlying pace of economic expansion, the Fed Chair faced pointed questions on how much further weakness we need to see to warrant a cut and t…

Hear ye, hear ye…for all those Fed-heads out there, tomorrow is decision day!

Mostly a Mundane Monday as our UK counterparts were shut to celebrate Bank Day, along with the Americas celebrating Cinco De Mayo, and lastly my fellow Skywalkers coming down from the “fourth” being with them. After 9 straight days in the green (first time since 2004), US Equities took a breather today despite a midafternoon rally post optimistic trade commentary from President Trump. With volumes still well off the 20-day average, equities maintained their weakness from the premarket througho…

April is in the rearview now, but the recent trend higher continued for the 1st day of May. Equites got a boost as two of the MAGA 7 (no-typo) provided positive results last night, highlighting that their earnings power continues even in a volatile tariff headline driven environment. The S&P 500 closed higher by 63bps, its eighth day in the green (last time was August 2024) as Tech (XLK +1.47%) led. Microsoft (+7.6%) and Meta (+4.2%) provided the impetus and that was enough to get the broader g…

When Trump said “Myself” in response to being asked who he would like to see succeed Pope Francis yesterday, it was hardly a surprising answer, but it made us laugh. Feels like we could all use a good laugh in the current environment with traders facing earnings galore and full slates of important economic data this week, as well as month end shenanigans today. US indices were setup for failure from the start with a slew of disappointing earnings pre-market (See: Super Micro -11.5%, Norwegian C…

Today there will be an announcement! This headline followed multiple announcements throughout the day, causing markets to continue to be reactionary as they respond to tweets, headlines, and interviews from members of the Trump administration. It kicked off this morning after it was reported that Amazon (-0.1%) would display the cost of tariffs on its products which was called a “hostile and political act” by the White House. This reported was quickly backtracked after a President Trump gave…

The level of uncertainty permeating the market has been borderline uncomfortable but there are a significant number of catalysts coming in the week ahead which will help to shed some light. We are now in the peak of earnings season with $20 trillion of US companies reporting – the early feedback from management is that the US consumer remains surprisingly resilient but the other big question for this week is whether or not that will come through in the economic data this week as the impact of t…

Is it too early to let the bull market music ring again? Today was the third day in a row of strong gains thanks to earnings, which have delivered a mix of relief and enthusiasm to investors. In addition, anticipation around a potential retreat on trade policy from the Trump administration continues to reverberate through the masses, with investors expecting formal news on a trade “deal” imminently. Bessent suggested we could see an outline in regard to South Korea as soon as next week. 5504/55…

It’s been quite some time since I uttered the phrase “Sea of Green” as US equities soared early off Trump de-escalation talks (domestically and foreign), healthy earnings beats (despite tariff woes and AI capex fears…for now), followed by encouraging macro data (PMI, new home sales beat, and no surprises out of the Fed’s Beige Book). Albeit US indices maintained their“ SoG” we made rather whippy moves off headline comments of no substance from Treasury Sec. Bessent and President Trump around Ch…

Amid an avalanche of earnings and incrementally positive updates in the ongoing Trump tariff regime, major indices posted hefty gains today. The majority of yesterday’s losses were made up overnight with the S&P500 back to flat on the week within the first 15 minutes of the session, but the grind higher was not without its own bout of volatility. Word leaked from Bessent’s closed door investor summit that the treasury secretary said the current tariff standoff could not be sustained, sparking a…