In search of the elusive inflation surge

US bond yields began to settle down last week when Fed Chair Janet Yellen stated in her Congressional testimony that the neutral rate for Fed Funds is roughly the inflation rate, which is much lower than market expectations. In addition, she allowed that the Fed is likely to re-evaluate its tightening path in light of...

More evidence of an emerging reflationary rebound

Mid-week market update: Further to my last post (see Nearing the terminal phase of this equity bull), There are numerous signs that the market's animal spirits are getting set for a reflationary stock market rally. First of all, the BAML Fund Manager Survey shows that a predominant majority of institutional managers believe that we are in...

(Chinese) blood in the streets?

The worries about China ebbs and flows. The latest BAML Fund Manager Survey shows that China fears are at flood levels again.     Indeed, developments such as the inverted Chinese yield curve is creating a sense of peak anxiety.     I recently highlighted analysis indicating that China fears are overblown (see Are the...

Will an oil spike kill the market bull?

I recently wrote about my scenario for a market top in 2016 (see My roadmap for 2016 and beyond), which goes something like this: Unemployment is now at 5.0%, which is a point at which the economy historically started to experience cost-push inflation. Inflation edges up, which is already being seen in commodity prices. Initially,...