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Two “Smart Market” Recession Signals to Watch For

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Two “Smart Market” Recession Signals to Watch For: Start a free trial of The Sevens Report.

What’s in Today’s Report:

  • Follow-Up Thoughts on the Yield Curve Reversion Process – Two Signals to Watch For
  • PPI Takeaways – Will Falling Inflation Flip from a Tailwind to a Headwind?
  • NFIB Small Business Optimism Index Echoes HD Sales Concerns

U.S. stock futures are flat as traders digest yesterday’s sizeable rally ahead of today’s critical CPI release.

Overseas, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand unexpectedly cut rates overnight citing recession concerns in H2’24 while the EU GDP Flash met estimates at 0.6% y/y helping push back on imminent recession fears.

Today, market focus will be on the key U.S. inflation data due ahead of the bell: CPI (E: 0.2% m/m, 3.0% y/y), Core CPI (E: 0.2% m/m, 3.2% y/y). A “cool” release will be welcomed and likely support an extension of the week-to-date gains while a “hot” print would be negative for risk assets.

There are no Fed speakers today, however there is a 4-Week Treasury Bill auction at 11:30 a.m. ET which normally wouldn’t pique investors interest, but this one lines up with the September Fed meeting and could shed light on the market’s policy rate expectations.

Finally, earnings season continues to wind down with a few noteworthy companies reporting today including: CAH (E: $1.72), UBS (E: $0.12), TCEHY (E: $0.61), CSCO (E: $0.85).

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FOMC Preview

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FOMC Preview: Start a free trial of The Sevens Report.

What’s in Today’s Report:

  • FOMC Preview
  • Chart: Stocks Are Trading With an 85% Correlation to 2007

U.S. equity futures are tracking European stocks higher as traders look ahead to the Fed, big-tech earnings, and more important economic data due in the sessions ahead.

Economically, Japan’s Unemployment Rate fell to 2.5% vs. (E) 2.6% while the EU’s GDP Flash rose to 0.6% vs. (E) 0.5%. The reports are not meaningfully moving markets but seem to be easing recession fears to some degree in pre-market trade.

Looking into today’s session, there are two housing market reports due out early: Case-Shiller Home Price Index (E: 7.2%) and the FHFA House Price Index (E: 6.3%) before Consumer Confidence (E: 99.5) and JOLTS (E: 8.0 million) will be released after the opening bell.

The July FOMC meeting begins today so there are no Fed speakers which will likely bring a sense of “Fed paralysis” before tomorrow’s meeting announcement and Powell’s press conference.

That will leave trader focus on earnings with BP ($0.92), PG ($1.37) and PYPL ($0.97) all due to report before the open while AMD ($0.67), MSFT ($2.90), and SBUX ($0.93) will release results after the close.

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The ultimate direction of the S&P 500 will still be determined by economic growth

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The ultimate direction of the S&P 500 will still be determined by economic growth: Tom Essaye Quoted in Forbes

Stocks Slide As Major Tech Earnings Get Off To ‘Underwhelming’ Start

The U.S. will report its second-quarter gross domestic product Wednesday morning, offering a glimpse into how well the broader economy is performing. “The ultimate direction of the S&P 500 will still be determined by economic growth,” remarked Sevens Report analyst Tom Essaye in a Monday note.

Also, click here to view the full Forbes article published on July 24th, 2024. However, to see the Sevens Report’s full comments on the current market environment sign up here.

Lastly, If you want research that comes with no long-term commitment, yet provides independent, value-added, plain English analysis of complex macro topics, then begin your Sevens Report subscription today by clicking here.

To strengthen your market knowledge take a free trial of The Sevens Report.

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The performance gap between tech and the rest of the market

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The performance gap between tech and the rest of the market: Tom Essaye Quoted in Forbes

Why A Magnificent 7 Breather Could Be A Good Thing For The Stock Market

“The performance gap between tech and the rest of the market is so wide that it’s reasonable to expect continued closing of that gap as markets more fully embrace the idea of the start of a rate cutting cycle,” summarized Sevens Report founder Tom Essaye, noting in the “near term” non-tech sectors may mount a catchup rally. Essaye is referring to Thursday’s strong inflation data which bolstered calls for the Federal Reserve to soon lower interest rates, which broadly help most equities but tend to favor certain rate-sensitive sectors like real estate.

Also, click here to view the full Forbes article published on July 12th, 2024. However, to see the Sevens Report’s full comments on the current market environment sign up here.

Lastly, If you want research that comes with no long-term commitment, yet provides independent, value-added, plain English analysis of complex macro topics, then begin your Sevens Report subscription today by clicking here.

To strengthen your market knowledge take a free trial of The Sevens Report.

Join hundreds of advisors from huge brokerage firms like Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo Advisors, Raymond James, and more! To start your quarterly subscription and see how The Sevens Report can help you grow your business, click here.

Jobs Day

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Jobs Day: Start a free trial of The Sevens Report.

What’s in Today’s Report:

  • Jobs Day
  • Why Wednesday’s Weak Economic Data Is Increasing Growth Concerns

Futures are little changed following the U.S. holiday as the last 24 didn’t provide any substantial market surprises while focus turns towards today’s jobs report.

The Labour Party won a landslide election victory in the UK, as expected, but that victory isn’t altering the outlook for growth or inflation (so it’s not impacting markets).

U.S. growth worries are creeping slightly higher following Wednesday’s surprisingly soft economic data.

Today focus will be on the jobs report and expectations are as follows: 189K Job-Adds, 4.0% Unemployment Rate, 0.3% m/m & 3.9% y/y Wage Growth.  Markets are still in a “bad is good” mode for data so the biggest risk to markets today is for a “Too Hot” number.  But, that said, Wednesday’s economic data was outright bad and for those paying attention, there are now a lot of signs that the U.S. economy may be losing more momentum than expected.  So, if there is a surprisingly weak jobs report (possible but unlikely) it will increase growth concerns and that’s a future risk to this rally.

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Strong demand (lower yields) will reaffirm the dovish shift in Fed policy

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Strong demand will reaffirm the dovish shift in Fed policy: Sevens Report Editor, Tom Essaye, Quoted in Barron’s

Stocks Open Mixed. Tech Is Bouncing Back.

“Strong demand (lower yields) will reaffirm the dovish shift in Fed policy expectations this month while weak demand (rising yields) could rekindle higher-for-longer policy rate worries and spark risk-off money flows,” writes Sevens Report Research’s Tom Essaye.

Also, click here to view the full Barron’s article published on June 24th, 2024. However, to see the Sevens Report’s full comments on the current market environment sign up here.

It’ll be Very Hard for This Market to RallyIf you want research that comes with no long term commitment, yet provides independent, value added, plain English analysis of complex macro topics, then begin your Sevens Report subscription today by clicking here.

To strengthen your market knowledge take a free trial of The Sevens Report.

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Growing Economic Concerns

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Growing Economic Concerns: Start a free trial of The Sevens Report.

What’s in Today’s Report:

  • Why I am Getting More Concerned About an Economic Slowdown
  • Weekly Economic Preview – A Critical Week of Data

Futures are higher on momentum from Friday’s late-day rally while news wires were mostly quiet this weekend.

Economically, the Eurozone Manufacturing PMI rose from 45.7 to 47.3 vs. (E) 47.4 in May while the UK’s Manufacturing PMI headline rose from 49.1 to 51.2 vs. (E) 51.3. The as-expected data is having a limited impact on markets, leaving stocks to extend Friday’s rally.

Today, focus will be on the ISM Manufacturing Index (E: 49.8) early with a report on Construction Spending (E: 0.2%) also due out after the open. There are no Fed officials scheduled to speak today which leaves the ISM data the key catalysts of the session. A report that is “too hot” or “too cold” could see volatility pick up while a “Goldilocks” number would likely allow Friday’s relief rally to continue.

Finally, the Treasury will hold 3-Month and 6-Month Bill auctions at 11:30 a.m. ET, and while these auctions don’t typically move markets, we are within 6-months of the first expected rate cuts from the Fed so any surprises could impact yields and in-turn move equities.

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Will the Trump Verdict Impact Markets?

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Will the Trump Verdict Impact Markets? Start a free trial of The Sevens Report.

What’s in Today’s Report:

  • Will the Trump Verdict Impact Markets?
  • When Will Higher Yields Pressure Stocks?

Futures are moderately lower again following more disappointing tech earnings and another hot inflation print.

Salesforce (CRM) missed earnings and joined a growing list of non-AI tech companies to post disappointing result (WDAY last week) and that’s weighing on futures.

Economically, Spanish CPI was hotter than expected as it rose 3.8% y/y vs. (E) 3.7%, up from last month’s 3.4%

Today includes some potentially important economic data as we get the Revised Q1 GDP report (E: 1.5%) and focus will be on the headline as well as any revisions to the PCE Price Data (if it’s revised higher, that’s a negative).  Other notable data today includes Jobless Claims (E: 217K) and Pending Home Sales (E: 0.3%) and as has been the case all year, “hot” data will be negative for stocks and bond.

There are also two Fed speakers today, Williams (12:05 p.m. ET) and Logan (5:00 p.m. ET), although unless they talk about rate hikes, they comments shouldn’t move markets.

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“Good, bad and ugly” outcomes for the April consumer-price index reading.

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“Good, bad and ugly” outcomes for the April consumer-price index reading: Tom Essaye, founder of Sevens Report Research, Quoted in Morningstar

Stock market could suffer ‘ugly’ day if April CPI comes in above this level

Tom Essaye, founder of Sevens Report Research, took a look Tuesday at potential “good, bad and ugly” outcomes for the April consumer-price index reading.

So what would provoke an ugly reaction? Essaye puts the threshold at 3.9%.

A core reading at or above that threshold would be likely to spark a “solid selloff,” further entrenching the idea that inflation remains sticky and rates will be higher for longer, Essaye wrote. That has the potential of undoing much of the rally seen over the last two weeks, as investors would likely scale back rate-cut expectations, penciling in just one cut in December.

Also, click here to view the full MarketWatch article published on Morningstar on May 14th, 2024. However, to see the Sevens Report’s full comments on the current market environment sign up here.

Oil Inventories

Lastly, If you want research that comes with no long-term commitment, yet provides independent, value-added, plain English analysis of complex macro topics, then begin your Sevens Report subscription today by clicking here.

To strengthen your market knowledge take a free trial of The Sevens Report.

Join hundreds of advisors from huge brokerage firms like Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo Advisors, Raymond James, and more! To start your quarterly subscription and see how The Sevens Report can help you grow your business, click here.

Even a small bout of stagflation would result in a 10%-20% decline in stocks

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Even a small bout of stagflation would result in a 10%-20% decline in stocks: Tom Essaye Quoted in MarketWatch

The economy could be heading toward 1970s-style stagflation. What it means for the stock market.

 “Stagflation doesn’t have to be as bad as it was in the 1970s, but for a stock market that’s trading above 21 times earnings, the truth is that even a small bout of stagflation would result in a 10%-20% decline in stocks,” said Tom Essaye, founder of Sevens Report Research, in a Monday note.

“Of course, comparing this period to the 1970s, where GDP growth was flat or negative and CPI was running more than 10%, [Powell’s] absolutely right [that] there is no stagflation,” said Essaye. But he added that it’s somewhat “dismissive” to say that just because things aren’t as bad as they were in the 1970s, any talk of stagflation is unwarranted.

“In an absolute sense,” economic growth is not at levels that would imply stagflation — but data releases are becoming “more conclusive that economic momentum is slowing,” Essaye said. “While stagnation isn’t here yet, the data is showing a greater chance of it occurring than any time in the last year and a half.”

Also, click here to view the full MarketWatch article published on May 13th, 2024. However, to see the Sevens Report’s full comments on the current market environment sign up here.

If you want research that comes with no long term commitment, yet provides independent, value added, plain English analysis of complex macro topics, then begin your Sevens Report subscription today by clicking here.

To strengthen your market knowledge take a free trial of The Sevens Report.

Join hundreds of advisors from huge brokerage firms like Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo Advisors, Raymond James, and more! To start your quarterly subscription and see how The Sevens Report can help you grow your business, click here.