QuickTakes

The most concise analysis of the key variables driving the global economy and financial markets.

Short-form takes on current market events.

Slow-Motion Meltup Continues

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq edged up to record high closes today, lifted by Nvidia and GE Vernova. Trump’s Tariff Turmoil appears to be subsiding, just as we expected it would during the summer. Investors are welcoming President Donald

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Trump’s Tariffs Go To Court

The following is a note on imminent court decisions regarding President Donald Trump’s tariffs, written by Jim Lucier, one of the best Washington watchers we know and a good friend of Yardeni Research. Jim is one of the founders

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Washington Creates Buzz 24×7

Can’t we get a day without news coming out of the White House? Yesterday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called for an “exhaustive internal review” of the Fed’s “non-monetary policy operations.” He accused the central bank of “significant mission

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ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: July 21–25

This might be a good week to take a summer vacation. The economic data calendar is light. On Monday, Fed Chair Powell will speak in Washington, perhaps offering an update on his views on employment, inflation, and interest rates. He won’t

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PPI Report Comes With A Warning Label!

On Tuesday, June’s CPI report was warmer than expected. Today’s June PPI report was cooler than expected. Yesterday, we argued that while Trump’s tariffs may not be boosting inflation, they may have halted its fall to the Fed’s 2.0%

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Russian Roulette, The Dollar & Gold

The US stock market held up very well today in the face of Trump’s escalation of his trade war with the world over the weekend. Maybe that’s because he threatened that his latest tariff salvo won’t be fired until

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ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: July 14–18

This will be a jampacked week for economic indicators and big banks’ Q2 earnings reports. We are relatively optimistic about the latter, which should be bullish for the stock market. The inflation news may show some signs of tariff-related

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The Roaring 2020s: Six Years of Resilience, So Far

The economy won’t let us down. Despite numerous crises, real GDP has remained recession-resistant since the Covid lockdown during the first half of 2020. That’s almost six recession-free years notwithstanding the pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the tightening

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Uncertainty & Breadth

At the end of last year, the words “uncertain” and “uncertainty” appeared 12 times in the minutes of the December 17-18 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. Those words appeared more often during this year’s meetings. The June

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Seinfeld Kind Of Summer Day

Nothing happened today in the financial markets. The prices of stocks, bonds, the dollar, and oil all were relatively flat. On the other hand, there was more Trump Tariff Turmoil (TTT). But the markets watched it all with as much interest as

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Liberation Day II

Liberation Day I occurred on Wednesday, April 2 after the stock market closed, when President Donald Trump imposed reciprocal tariffs on America’s trading partners. The immediate reaction was what we called “Annihilation Days” in the stock and bond markets

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ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: July 7–11

There’s not much on this week’s economic calendar. The only big event was supposed to occur on Wednesday, July 9. That would have been 90 days after President Donald Trump postponed his April 2 reciprocal tariffs on America’s trading

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Bond Yield Rises, Ignoring Weak ADP Payrolls Report

The 10-year Treasury bond yield rose yesterday and today on mostly upbeat employment indicators. Yesterday, the JOLTS report came in stronger than expected. In addition, initial unemployment claims edged down, according to yesterday’s report. Today, the Challenger report showed a drop in

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Correction: On Fed Governors’ Terms

In previous QuickTakes, we wrote that Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s term as Fed chair expires on May 15, 2026 but that he could stay on as a Fed governor until his term in that position expires on January 31,

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Pounding Powell = Pounding The Dollar

There is method to President Donald Trump’s madness regarding Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Trump has been hammering Powell almost daily recently because doing so is very effectively hammering the foreign-exchange value of the dollar (chart). Trump wants a weaker

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‘Summertime, And The Livin’ Is Easy’

The stock market seems to be carefree. Investors likely figure that any signs of slower economic growth increase the odds that the Fed will ease. Plus, inflation remains remarkably subdued through May notwithstanding Trump’s tariffs. June’s CPI inflation rate is tracking around

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ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: June 30–July 4

It may be July 4th week in the US, but we don’t expect many fireworks on the economic data front. Of course, surprises could come from events in the Middle East, as Israel, Iran, and the Trump administration figure

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Semiconductors Leading The Stock Market Higher

Since the start of the current bull market during October 2022, we recommended overweighting the S&P 500 Information Technology sector and have been especially positive on the S&P 500 Semiconductor industry. We stuck with that recommendation during the correction

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A New Day In The Middle East

Any day with a ceasefire in the Middle East is a good day for stocks. On Monday, President Donald Trump declared that the “12-Day War” between Israel and Iran is over. The S&P 500 rose 2.1% yesterday and today

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Ceasefire

This morning, Iran launched a missile attack on the US military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in retaliation for US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities the previous day. The attack involved short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, with Qatar reporting

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ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: June 23–27

Layered on top of a still-developing trade war, President Donald Trump’s attack on Iran puts markets in decidedly uncharted territory. Much will depend on how Iran responds to the attack. Trump said in Saturday’s White House address, if Iran doesn’t

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