Tag: Inflation
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What. A. Year.
Financial markets are always a little weird. After all, financial markets reflect the behavior and sentiments of people, especially in the near term. Investors have experienced sentiment all over the place the past few years, from bleak circumstances to euphoric speculative nonsense, and back again. 2022 will probably go down as one of the market’s…
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Using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve To Fight Inflation
The inflation numbers for August came in hotter than expected, rising 0.1% for the month against the falling forecast. On the surface, it does not seem too bad, considering inflation is over 8% for the year, and it paused in July. The Fed and investors were by far and away hoping that they had seen…
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Investors Should Worry More About Quantitative Tightening
There is a lot of negative sentiment in markets now, just as inflation pain and recession fears began to ebb. Despite zero evidence, many investors were banking on the FED pivoting from the aggressive rate hikes sooner rather than later. Some investors got ahead, bidding stocks off their June lows for a mid-summer rally in…
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Recession or Nah?
The recession debate has died down a bit as political and financial commentators gravitated to the next dumb debate over the White House’s quote of zero inflation for July. Inflation was zero for July. The inflation rate for the twelve months ending in July is 8.5%. I am unsure if it was worse seeing so…
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What Exactly Is a Recession?
So, how are things going in the economy? Not great. But not terrible either. While the jobs market remains strong, the biggest concern for consumers and policymakers is inflation. The Fed is rapidly increasing rates to tame inflation. However, the Fed may not be able to do a lot to cure the supply chain issues…
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What A Year This Quarter Has Been
It has been a difficult quarter for investors. Major indexes entered bear territory (means down 20%). US treasuries, generally the safest of assets for when investors are scared, have had their worst year since the 70s (when interest rates go up, bonds go down). Commodities, which I generally say “they suck until they don’t,” have…
