February’s Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price YoY grew to 5.4%, the highest since 1983. The spread between the PCE Core Deflator and The Fed Funds Target Rate (upper bound)
In terms of the spread, it is the highest since the 1970s.
The Taylor Rule (which Jerome Powell probably thinks is the New Jersey breakfast meat “Taylor Ham”) indicates that The Fed’s target rate should be 12.21%. This is using the Rudebusch specification of the Taylor Rule.
Now that the Biden Administration is going gangbusters on building electric cars, lithium prices are going through the roof.
There is a massive divergence between the collapsing US Treasury 10Y-2Y yield curve and the near-term forward spread. The near-term forward spread is the difference between the implied interest rate expected on a three-month Treasury bill six quarters ahead and the current yield on a three-month Treasury bill.
As we already know, the 10Y-5Y yield curve has inverted signaling a coming recession.
This divergence between the Treasury yield curves and the near-term forward spread is occurring as US inflation hits the highest rate in 40 years.
As of today, Jerome “Nero” Powell and The Gang at The Federal Reserve have not trimmed the Fed’s balance sheet and have only raised their target rate once under President Biden.
Here is the Hindenburg Omen, named for the catastrophic explosion on May 6, 1937 at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey. The Hindenburg Omen was flashing red before the stock market correction of late 2007-2009. But, the Hindenburg Omen has flashed red repeatedly since the financial crisis, yet the S&P 500 index has kept rising. The reason? Repeated policy errors by The Fed leaving monetary stimulus in place for too long leading to a bubble forming in the stock market.
The Shiller CAPE (Cyclically-adjust price-earnings) ratio is at the second highest level since the 1800s. The highest point was the infamous Dot.com bubble and bust in 2000/2001.
Since The Fed continues to say “We have a plan!” to slow/shrink The Fed’s balance sheet and raise their target rate … it has not done anything yet (other than a 25 basis point bump at the March meeting).
I am not advocating technical analysis for stocks, but the Bollinger Band analysis for the S&P500 index is showing the S&P 500 index near the top band indicating that a decline in likely.
Today, the US equity market in essentially flat given the massive uncertainty about the Russia/Ukraine situation and whether the US economy is slipping into darkness. But this morning, Federal government blessed companies (healthcare, solar energy and Blackrock) are doing quite well, while homebuider NVR is taking it on the chin thanks to hints that The Fed will raising rates.
Now, NVR (Northern Virginia Homes, Ryan Homes) had explosive earnings growth in their February 1, 2022 report.
But the market is pricing in the crushing Fed rate hikes that are expected.
So, will Foul Powell pull a Volcker and raise rates and crush the economy (and stocks)? Or will Foul Powell And The Fed gang let inflation burn out of control, but preserve the massive asset bubbles?
Inflation is roaring along caused by government spending and energy policies, hurting the American middle class and lower-income groups.
Now we see the US Treasury 10Y-2Y flattening towards zero and the10Y-5Y curve slipping deeper into inversion as Q1 GDP growth slows to 0.867.
The US yield and dollar swap curves remain steeply upward sloping, but with the dollar swap curve around 120 basis points high than the Treasury yield at the 6-month tenor.
“With inflation at a four-decade high, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has set the central bank on course for a series of interest-rate increases this year. He has stressed the toll that price increases are taking on lower-income Americans.” (No duh, Jay!)
“We understand that high inflation imposes significant hardship, especially on those least able to meet the higher costs of essentials like food, housing, and transportation,” Powell said after the Fed’s interest-rate decision this month (of only a 25 basis point increase).
Philadelphia Fed’s Patrick Harker, in a speech Tuesday, said “One of our contacts, for instance, mentioned whopping membership fee increases at his golf club, suggesting this summer may be a good time to play at your local muni instead,” said Harker, a former University of Delaware president and dean of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Perhaps Harker wins the Derek Zoolander award for his remarks on how the rich are impacted by inflation too.
Unfortunately, the US Breakeven 10Y inflation rate hit another all-time high as West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil (Cushing Spot) soars.
But note that the WTI Crude spot rate is still lower than it previous peak in June 2008. What is notable in the above chart is that M2 Money growth YoY has slowed after Covid “Stimulypto”. But M2 is still growing at an 11% YoY clip, much faster growth than pre-Covid rates. So, Federal stimulypto is still in place, helping to drive inflation to the moon.
As The Biden Administration and Congress pushes Green Energy and demonizes fossil fuels, we are seeing Green Energy commodities such as Lithium (for batteries) soar even faster than oil prices.
And just an update on The US Dollar, Crypto Currencies and Gold. This is just a sample of alternatives to the US Dollar for transactions. Freedom of choice is a great thing!
The U.S. breakeven 10 year (USGGBE10 Index) went above 3% for the first time EVER.
Breakeven inflation is the difference between the nominal yield on a fixed-rate investment and the real yield (fixed spread) on an inflation-linked investment of similar maturity and credit quality.
Overnight, the US Treasury yield rose to 2.38% as the number of forecast Fed rate hikes rose to 8.211. So, enjoy “low” rates while you can.
If we back out the highest inflation rate in 40 years, the REAL 10Y Treasury yield is -5.50%.
And the REAL 30Y mortgage rate is -3.57%.
Of course, the meteoric rise in inflation is due largely to Biden’s attack on the fossil fuel industry (until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine distracted from Biden’s inflation fiasco). Remember, Russia didn’t invade Ukraine until February 2022.
Wait. I thought the purpose of Biden’s executive orders was to reduce dependence on fossil fuels by driving up gasoline and natural gas prices producing a shift to “green energy.” Won’t these “gas rebates” simply continue the consumption of gasoline and natural gas? And increase inflation??
As Winston Churchill once said, “Never let a crisis go to waste.”
US mortgage rates are soaring, US home prices are soaring, The Fed’s balance sheet is still growing, and US average hourly earnings are growing at a fraction of home price growth.
The unafforable nature of US housing prices is similar to that of 2005-2007 when home price growth greatly exceeded wage growth.
Another side effect of soaring mortgage rates: MBA refinancing applications plunged 14.37% from the preceding week.
Oil prices are soaring as US President Biden pleads like a homeless person to foreign countries for oil rather than let the US produce more oil to drive down prices. Meanwhile, the US Treasury yield curve 10Y-3M is at its steepest (rising 10Y yields while The Fed keeps short rates at near zero).
But if we look at the belly of the beast, so to speak, the 10Y-5Y slope, we can see that the Treasury curve has declined to a mere 0.278 basis points as inflation rages.
Bankrate’s 30-year mortgage rate keeps on climbing and has hit 4.55% as the 2-year Treasury yield rises rapidly.
The US Dollar Index has risen dramatically as US inflation has increased dramatically.
Oil? Oil is up over 4% in the US. Mexican Mix (not a #3 meal at Chuy’s) is up 7.32%.
Gasoline? NY prices are up over 10%.
Russian oil is up 9.35%.
Ah, for the good old days of 30 cents a gallon gasoline, although I always wondered about Gulf’s marketing campaign. “Good Gulf” seems to imply that the other Gulf gasolines aren’t good. And Gulf’s “No-nox” seems to imply that the other Gulf gasolines knock like Biden’s knees as he pleads for foreign oil.
Confounded Interest - Anthony B. Sanders 
You must be logged in to post a comment.