Ukraine Crisis 😨

⚔️  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

Trouble in Ukraine ⏱

🎉  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

February Recovery? 🤞

☕️  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

Bottoming Correction?

😳  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 Market Plunge 📉

😳  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

Market Looking for Direction 🤔

🥱  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

Investors Flee Growth 💨👟

💨👟  Fleeing growth. 2022 started right where 2021 ended with fear around lofty Growth valuations in a #RisingYields environment. While overall S&P 500 down -2% for week, heavy #Flight2Safety Value rotation all week with Growth underperforming Value by over 5%. 📝  Hawkish Fed minutes. Compounding already negative Growth sentiment, Fed Dec meeting notes released indicate quicker balance sheet reduction under consideration Read More

Early Christmas for Markets 🎁

🧪  No US lockdown. Biden announced 🇺🇸 #COVID19 Omicron plan focusing on vaccination and testing vs. lockdowns. Fearing a shutdown similar to many in Europe, announcement kicked off week-long rally on Omicron optimism. 🥳  Lots of Omicron cheer. Looking past surging cases, investors rally into the holidays on #COVID19 Omicron optimism. It seems like Omicron surges to a peak quickly with milder Read More

Fed Turns Hawkish 🦅

🦅  Fed shifting to offense. Fed turns hawkish to combat surging #InflationFears. Fed accelerating tapering plan doubling monthly reduction to $30B and targeting 3 rate hikes in 2022 (up from just one expected last month). We think even the accelerated expectations may still be conservative… 😷  Omicron surging globally. While still milder symptoms generally, high transmissibility has #COVID19 Omicron surging Read More