With last Friday's "tech wreck" now a distant memory, this morning the "FOMC Drift" described yesterday, which "guarantees" higher stock prices and a lower dollar heading into the Fed announcement is in full effect, with European and Asian stocks rising for a second day, led by rebounding tech shares, while S&P futures are modestly in the green and stocks on Wall Streets hit a record high overnight.
Authored by Federico Pieraccini via The Strategic Culture Foundation,
In a climate of outright confrontation, even the Gulf monarchies have been overtaken by a series of unprecedented events. The differences between Qatar on one side, and Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on the other, have escalated into a full-blown diplomatic crisis with outcomes difficult to foresee.
As the Fed begins its two-day meeting, global stocks have recovered their footing and European shares rise, led by a bounce in tech stocks as last Friday's global selloff that started in the sector shows signs of abating. Asian stocks and U.S. futures gain as investors turn their attention to today's Jeff Sessions testimony as well as tomorrow's barrage of macro data including Yellen, CPI and retail sales.
Since The Fed began its 'tightening cycle' in December 2015, the Treasury yield curve (2s10s) has flattened dramatically, tumbling back today towards cycle lows (and well below Trump-election-hope lows). What is perhaps more worrisome is the historical trend strongly suggests this trend is far from over and an inverted yield curve looms.
The trend is clear that Fed policy is running counter to growth expectations and all the hope that Trump offered has been erased completely.
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