Semiconductor stocks have certainly benefited from the AI boom. All those data centers being built will be filled with chips (chart). All those autonomous-driving vehicles will also be stuffed with chips, and so will humanoid robots. And they will

From time to time, we will review and update some of our good market calls. We hope this provides a helpful perspective on our approach to market forecasting. Today, let’s review and update our thoughts on the outlook for gold: (1) We first

This is a quiet week for key economic data releases, but it is even quieter due to the ongoing government shutdown. For financial markets, this informational void is equivalent to flying blind. That also applies to Fed officials who

We are raising our year-end S&P 500 target back to 7000. We started the year there, but lowered it earlier this year in response to Trump’s Tariff Turmoil. We began raising our forecast again during the spring, when we

The stock market is discounting the ongoing resilience of the economy and corporate earnings. It is discounting that the odds of a recession over the rest of the Roaring 2020s are low. The longer the economy is expected to

The Russell 2000 small-cap stock price index is outperforming the S&P 600, another small-cap index (chart). The former includes many more companies that are losing money than the latter. This is yet another sign of mounting speculative froth in

The S&P 500 SPDR ETF (SPY) closed today at 666 (chart). I have fond memories of that number. I wrote on March 16, 2009: “We’ve been to Hades and back. The S&P 500 bottomed last week on March 6

In his post-FOMC press conference on September 17, Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated that Fed policy remains tight notwithstanding the latest rate cut: “What we can say is this, that over the course of this year we’ve kept our

Monthly employment reports have been suspenseful enough in recent months, but the real drama surrounding September’s hotly anticipated figures is whether they will even be released on Friday. They won’t be if the government shuts down on October 1

The financial markets have become jittery lately due to concerns about high valuation multiples, particularly among AI stocks, and a potential government shutdown. President Donald Trump reportedly will meet with the top four congressional leaders at the White House on

The Fed just won’t listen to us. Last year, we warned Fed officials not to cut the federal funds rate (FFR) because we had more confidence in the economy than they did. We also observed that inflation remained above

Before you know it, September will be over. It is likely to defy the month’s reputation of being a bad one for stocks (chart). Instead, the S&P 500 rose to a new record high of 6693.75 on Monday, September

During a speech in Providence, Rhode Island today, Fed Chair Jerome Powell was asked whether he and his colleagues give any weight to the impact of their monetary policies on financial markets. He responded: “We do look at overall

It’s a big world with lots of investment opportunities. We continue to favor the United States, but it’s hard to overweight the US when it already accounts for 64.7% of the market capitalization of the All Country World (ACW)

The week ahead will offer timely clues about both the American consumer and inflation. The economic releases this week might also influence financial market expectations about another Fed rate cut as soon as the October 28-29 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. The federal funds futures

The DJIA, S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Russell 2000 all rose to record highs this past week. All were boosted by the Fed’s decision to cut the federal funds rate by 25bps on Wednesday. Is the stock market back on the road to the same

Please see Dr Ed’s op-ed in today’s Financial Times titled “Why it might be the time to repeal the Fed’s dual mandate: Should 3% be the US central bank’s new inflation target?” As expected by everyone, the FOMC delivered a 25bps cut

The FOMC is likely to cut the federal funds rate (FFR) by 25bps tomorrow. Among the meeting participants, there might be one or more dissenters to the decision who favor a 50bps cut and one or more dissenters opposed to any cut. The Summary

Central banks take the spotlight this week as monetary policymakers from Washington to Tokyo cut to the chase on the balance of economic risks. Though the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting (Tue-Wed) is the main event, rate decisions by the

Last Wednesday, Larry Ellison, the executive chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle, saw his net worth jump by $101 billion—the biggest one-day increase ever recorded on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index—to $382 billion. That happened after the company announced

Following yesterday’s cooler-than-expected PPI and today’s as-expected CPI, expectations are that the FOMC will cut the federal funds rate by 25 basis points on September 17, with no dissenters to that decision among voting members. Following today’s jump in

There was a lot of news today that, on balance, didn’t move the needle much in the financial markets, which are marking time until August’s PPI and CPI reports are released on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Let’s review all

We typically speak of stock market meltups as desirable for a limited time only, as they’re typically followed directly by meltdowns. On second thought: A stock market meltup might be alright after all. A meltdown needn’t follow it if it

President Donald Trump on Saturday amplified his promises to send National Guard troops and immigration agents to Chicago by posting a parody image from “Apocalypse Now” featuring a ball of flames as helicopters zoom over the nation’s second-largest city.

On Tuesday at 10:00 a.m., the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will publish its preliminary benchmark revision for March 2025 employment data. This coincides with the release of the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) data for Q1-2025.

August’s employment report was released this morning. It was weaker than expected. The month’s payrolls rose by just 22,000. June’s number was revised down by 27,000 to a decline of 13,000, while July’s number was revised up by 6,000

Stock prices rose again today as the 10-year bond yield fell. Investors anticipate that tomorrow’s employment report for August will be weak. If so, then it is a sure bet that the FOMC’s majority will turn dovish and will

The S&P 500 rose today despite a batch of weak economic indicators over the past two days. Investors perceive that bad news is good news if it increases the chances of a Fed rate cut on September 17. Indeed,

We turned bullish on gold last year when the spot price of the shiny metal decisively rose above $2,000 per ounce (chart). We attributed this new bull market in gold to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In

This week is chock-a-block with data reports, all building up to Friday’s pivotal employment report. The August jobs release will offer a reality check of sorts following July’s surprisingly soft reading and significant downward revisions to results for May and June. It could determine whether