Last week the S&P 500 hit another all-time high with the Dow closing the week above 40,000 for the first time. The catalyst for the move was a "better than expected" CPI inflation reading. The "surprise".........
CPI increased by 0.3%.
The expectation was......
0.4%
0.
The Wall Street cheerleaders who have been urging the Fed to cut interest rates because of the increasing financial stress apparently did not get the memo from consumers based on the current spending data, which accelerated in March following a 'slowdown' in February. March consumer spending was up 5.9%
The problem with a Federal Reserve who says they are both 'data-driven' but calls the data 'noisy' is it is difficult to determine whether or not the most recent data will change their mind. Their track record in predicting things like an implosion of a tech stock bubble, a financial
Following the release of the Fed's 'preferred' inflation measure Personal Consumption Index (PCE) Price Deflator last week, both the bulls and the bears had something to point to to make their case. The bulls highlighted the continued decrease in the year-over-year inflation levels (now 2.4% versus 5.2% a
Despite a one-day scare last week, the stock market closed the week near its record high. The 'scare' came in the form of an increase in the rate of inflation. This threw cold water on the thought the Fed would slash interest rates up to 6 times for a total
