Thursday, August 29, 2024

The Morning Call---M2 continues to slow

 

The Morning Call

 

8/29/24

 

The Market

         

    Technical

 

            Wednesday in the charts.

            https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/big-tech-bullion-bitcoin-battered-nvdas-big-night

 

            Stubbornly stressed stocks.

            https://www.zerohedge.com/the-market-ear/stubbornly-stressed-stocks

 

    Fundamental

 

       Headlines

 

              The Economy

 

                        US

 

Weekly initial jobless claims totaled 231,000 versus consensus of 232,000.

 

Q2 (2nd est.) GDP growth was 3.0% versus projections of 2.8%; Q2 (2nd est.) real consumer spending was +2.9% versus +2.3%; Q2 (2nd est.) core PCE was +2.8% versus +2.9%; Q2 (preliminary) corporate profits were up 1.7% versus -1.5%.

 

                        International

 

                          August German CPI was -0.1% versus estimates of +0.1%.

 

The August EU economic sentiment index was 96.6 versus expectations of 95.8.; the August consumer confidence index was -13.5 versus -13.4; the August industrial sentiment index was +9.7 versus -10.6; the August services sentiment index was 6.3 versus 5.2.

 

                        Other

 

                          August economic sentiment and confidence.

                          https://econbrowser.com/archives/2024/08/sentiment-and-confidence

 

                          Protests in China on the rise.

  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-28/china-s-economic-malaise-stirs-rising-protests-on-labor-housing?srnd=homepage-americas&sref=loFkkPMQ

 

                                                  African debt crisis has catastrophic implications.

                          https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/28/business/african-debt-crisis.html

 

                          Germany falling into crisis.

  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-08-28/germany-falling-into-crisis-as-berlin-suffers-vision-deficit?srnd=homepage-americas&sref=loFkkPMQ

 

 

            Monetary Policy

 

              The irrelevancy of the Fed.

              https://alhambrapartners.com/weekly-market-pulse-the-fed-declares-victory/

 

M2 (and risk of inflation) continues to decline. That means that I am going to have to revise my inflation forecast, at least for the near term. But the bigger problem remains, i.e., if our political class continues its profligate ways (more spending without a commensurate increase in taxes), the Fed will almost surely be forced to monetize that spending and that means inflation.

https://scottgrannis.blogspot.com/2024/08/excess-m2-continues-to-fade-away.html

 

              The alternative is recession.

              https://www.bostonherald.com/2024/08/21/antoni-coming-recession-may-already-have-arrived/

 

            Fiscal Policy

 

              God forbid either candidate has their way.

              https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/27/opinion/harris-trump-economic-populism.html

 

              The foolishness (and unworkability) of taxing unrealized gains.

              https://www.cato.org/blog/harriss-taxes-unrealized-gains-only-tip-5-trillion-tax-iceberg

 

     Bottom line

 

            Past performance is a public enemy (must read).

            https://www.ft.com/content/a9b53d71-3bd5-43dd-80ac-399957614374

 

            How dividends impact stock performance (must read).

            https://politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2024/08/dividends-and-market-performance-of.html

 

            Ten facts about the Treasury market.

            https://www.apolloacademy.com/10-facts-about-the-us-treasury-market/

 

            When will Nivida’s run end?

            https://sherwood.news/markets/nvidia-craziest-charts-in-market-history/

 

Investor Alert

 

            While GLD has remains above its all-time high, it is struggling to do so. In addition, the latest M2 and inflation numbers (see above) are not fitting my higher inflation scenario.  Finally, this was a trade not an investment. I am selling my GDX position.

 

            In my quarterly review of Starbucks, it failed to meet the minimum financial criteria for inclusion in our Universe. Accordingly, I am selling the Aggressive Growth Portfolio’s position in SBUX and removing it from the Aggressive Growth Universe.

 

    News on Stocks in Our Portfolios

 

What I am reading today

 

 

 

 

Visit Investing for Survival’s website (http://investingforsurvival.com/home) to learn more about our Investment Strategy, Prices Disciplines and Subscriber Service.

 

 

 

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