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The message was clear at the ECB Forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Portugal on Wednesday. Central bank policymakers stressed the importance of getting inflation back to target levels and their resolve in terms of raising rates this year in an effort to do so. We heard from FOMC Chair Jerome...

Last week I wrote about how the Federal Reserve might repeat the “transitory” mistake by letting fears of so-called “lagged effects” of their hiking program distract them from sufficiently combating inflation in the near term. We found out Tuesday that indeed it looks like...

(Wednesday market open) Stocks lost ground early Wednesday following a report that the United States is considering more curbs on chip exports to China. At the same time, the financials sector braces for results of Federal Reserve “stress tests” later this afternoon, and Fed...

(Thursday market open) As the second quarter and first half of the year wind down, stocks have a firmer tone early Thursday after a surprise upward adjustment to the government’s Q1 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimate. The government raised its third and final estimate for Q1 GDP to 2...

After a rough patch or two in the spring, stocks seem to be in better shape entering July amid hopes that the economy is starting to improve. At the same time, the Federal Reserve still expects to raise rates again later this year to continue battling inflation, while worries about the Chinese...

When Microsoft (MSFT) unleashed its ChatGPT-fused search, market watchers and consumers immediately turned their eyes onto Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), the undisputed leader in search, to see its next move. But there’s lately been concern from analysts that as Alphabet ramps up Bard and other...

(Tuesday market open) The market begins Tuesday in wait-and-see mode as investors prepare for a flurry of data and earnings. There were encouraging signs yesterday of new breadth on Wall Street as investors embraced sectors other than info tech, but the question is whether that’s the...

(Monday market open) Stocks began Monday licking their wounds after the worst week in more than a month. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NDX) suffered its first losing week since April. Hawkish talk from the Federal Reserve and other central banks, accompanied by worries about the global...

S&P 500 futures have fallen about -2.25% from reaching their yearly highs on Jun. 16, trailing off below an upward trendline that began about a month ago. This move is not particularly significant in terms of the raw number, but various technical indicators are starting to show some degradation...

(Friday market open) Despite rebounding yesterday, Wall Street retreated early Friday in premarket trading. Worries about rising interest rates, along with softness in Asian and European markets following another round of poor manufacturing data, have the market on pace for a losing week....

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony in front of Congress this week reaffirmed the conclusion of the most recent FOMC policy meeting in that higher interest rates are necessary to ensure inflation expectations remain well-anchored. Equities have been under some pressure since the...

Russell 2000 futures saw a slowdown in momentum this past week after price surged 10.5% in only 10 trading days since the end of May. The jump up took the price above several major moving averages, such as the 21-, 63-, and 252-day Exponential Moving Averages – all of which are now tilted...

(Thursday market open) A surprise 50-basis-point rate hike this morning from the Bank of England (BoE) and more tough talk yesterday from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell combined to pressure stocks early Thursday. Major indexes are lower for the fourth day in a row as...

Jerome Powell gets to take another stab at it today. Last week’s message was messy from the start, when the Fed Chair called the decision not to hike rates a “skip,” before catching himself, saying “I shouldn’t call it a skip.” It’s indeed hard to know what...

(Wednesday market open) The opening bell just rang, but the main event begins later this morning when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell delivers his semiannual monetary policy report to the House Financial Services Committee. Though Powell spent an hour last week sharing his thoughts with...