Authored by Paul Brodsky via Macro-Allocation.com,
Golden Age
Once upon a time the capital markets consisted of a fairly closed community, comprised on one side by mostly clever, well-connected men working together in syndicate to maintain control over national economic and financial affairs, and on the other side by mostly high earners spread disparately across the land hobnobbing with the syndicate’s local representatives.
S&P futures retreated along with European and Asian shares with tech, and Apple supplier shares leading the drop while safe havens such as gold and the yen rose, as the war of words between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un escalated and North Korea threatened to launch a hydrogen bomb, leading to a prompt return of geopolitical concerns. Trade focus now turns to a planned speech by Theresa May on Brexit (full preview here).
After The Fed, gold is down, the yield curve is collapsing, stocks are clinging on for dear life...
The Wall Street Journal won the award for the greatest "Shock And Awe" financial headline of the day when it published a story earlier entitled "Warren Buffett Says the Dow Is Going Over One Million." The 'Oracle of Omaha' apparently made the 'bold' prediction at the 100-year anniversary celebration of Forbes magazine in which he also said that "being short America will continue to be a loser’s game." Here are the highlights from WSJ:
The day has finally arrived: today the Fed will officially announce the start of its balance sheet shrinkage (full preview here) while keeping rates unchanged, perhaps hiking again in December (market odds at 56%), while revising its economic projections and "dots", most likely in a lower direction.