Financial Markets Welcome the Fed’s Focus On Its First Rate Hike With Important Breakouts

The U.S. Federal Reserve released its latest decision on monetary policy and left interest rates unchanged. There was of course no surprise there. However, the very mention of a future rate hike was treated like new news: Fed holds rates near zero, but signals possible hike "at its next meeting" https://t.co/vF4pOxlo9p — WSJ Breaking News … Read more

Central Banks Help Maintain Dollar Index’s Trading Range

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on October 26, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) Almost two weeks ago, markets appeared ready to price in a first Fed rate cut way out into June, 2016 (essentially neverland). The U.S. dollar index (UUP) sat at one of … Read more

Strong Sentiment and Outlooks Support Out-performance of Homebuilder Stocks

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 28, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) While the S&P 500 (SPY) continues to languish in the aftermath of the flash crash and accompanying sell-off, the iShares US Home Construction (ITB) is still up 5.7% for the year … Read more

The Simple Calculus for the Timing of The Fed’s First Rate Hike

“…I expect that inflation will return to 2 percent over the next few years as the temporary factors that are currently weighing on inflation wane, provided that economic growth continues to be strong enough to complete the return to maximum employment and long-run inflation expectations remain well anchored. Most FOMC participants, including myself, currently anticipate … Read more

An Anti-Climactic Fed Meeting On the Path of Policy Normalization

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 18, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) If you have followed the CME Group 30-Day Fed Fund futures prices, today’s decision by the Federal Reserve to leave interest rates unchanged did not surprise you. You may have even … Read more