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🛡 Biden visits NATO. President Biden traveled to NATO HQ in Belgium for discussions on ongoing #UkraineCrisis. Cautious market optimism with more cooperation, additional sanctions and forceful condemnation of Putin. S&P 500 maintains rally up another +2% last week. 💸 Rising yields chatter. Barely a week out from March meeting and investors already speculating on the next #RisingYields hike. Powell Read More
🛢 Weaponizing oil. US adds new #UkraineCrisis sanction banning Russian oil sending crude oil prices surging. However, OPEC member UAE signaled willingness to increase supply (potentially offsetting Russia ban impact). Crude oil prices fell -12% from highs on Wed while markets cheered surging -3%. 💸 Accelerating inflation. Feb 12-month CPI grew 7.9% as #InflationFears showing no signs of moderating near-term. Feb Read More
☢️ Nuclear threat. More escalation in #UkraineCrisis as Putin’s forces attack infrastructure including a nuclear power plant fire that fortunately was put out without dangerous radiation leakage. Markets continue volatility with S&P 500 down again -1% for the week. 🛬 Travel grounded. #UkraineCrisis escalation has take the wind out of #RevengeTravel sails especially as escalating conflict appears longer-lasting. Travel names pummeled as Read More
⚔️ Ukraine invasion. After weeks of #UkraineCrisis escalation, Russia invaded Ukraine on Wednesday night (US time). US and other NATO nations retaliated by imposing severe sanctions on Russia with little deterrence impact so far. Initially plummeting -3% premarket, S&P 500 rallied ending up +1.5% on Thursday. 🗣 Russia ready to talk? Russia agreed to send a delegation to not-so-neutral Read More
⚔️ Ukraine escalating. Putin escalating #UkraineCrisis declaring two pro-Russia eastern territories independent and moving troops in for “peacekeeping”. Volatile market all week initially rising on Putin’s diplomatic head fake early before tumbling on steady escalation. S&P 500 rose +1% thru Wed before ending down -1.5% for the week. 💸 No Fed surprises. Fed’s Jan meeting minutes released with no Read More
🎉 Recovery party… With Omicron receding, bullish market sentiment as investors were ready to get the #COVIDRecovery party started. Strong earnings results from #RevengeTravel names bolstered the euphoria. Markets rose +2% through Wed extending past 2 weeks’ green streak. 🚀 CPI still soaring. January CPI 12-month growth hit 7.5% above expectations and Dec’s 7% readout. With #InflationFears still hot, investors worry new data Read More
☕️ Jittery markets. Markets remain extremely volatile as investor reevaluate lofty growth valuations. Winners this week include AMD surging on strong growth outlook and Amazon hiking Prime price; while losers include Meta and PayPal plummeting on slowing growth. ️🦠 Omicron in decline. 🇺🇸 #COVID19 Omicron cases sharply declining down -60% from mid-Jan peak. Investors looking to get #COVIDRecovery party started, but Read More
😳 Aggressive Fed looms. New Fed commentary alluded to increasingly aggressive stance, but didn’t provide much concrete details. Without committing, Fed did signal #RisingYield rate hikes starting in March and balance sheet reduction in the works. We believe Fed policy shifts faster this year with less consideration of market impact to aggressively combat #InflationFears. 💻 Big Tech to the Read More
😳 Fearful markets. Widespread market fears of new macro environment with aggressive #RisingYields. While last two year’s mantra was “buy the dip”, 2022 looking more like “sell the rally”. S&P 500 fell almost -6% last week with every day ending down despite fleeting intraday gains. High-growth and tech heavy NASDAQ already in correction down -14% since mid-Nov Read More
🥱 Dec inflation hits 7%. Dec 12-month CPI hit 7% up from Nov’s 6.8% reading. Viewing #InflationFears potentially moderating, investors initially cheered results Wed though optimism lost stream by end of day. 🧐 Stagnant market. Markets struggling for direction as investors remain focused on #RisingYields. Some analysts now predicting 4 rate hikes this year while Fed trying to soothe markets Read More