Gone In 60 Seconds? Treasuries And Stock Futures Trading Spike 60 Seconds BEFORE CPI Data Release (Who Tipped The Wink?)

Apparently, despite the denials from the Biden Administration, someone at Bureau of Labor Statistics or someone in Congress or the Federal Reserve or the Biden Admininstration itself likely tipped the wink on the soft CPI report on Tuesday.

Treasuries were well on the front-foot in the lead up to the below-estimate November CPO print, as a surge of buying took place seconds before the official 8:30 am New York release time. Over a 60 second period before the data, 13,518 March 10-year futures traded as the contract moved from 114-04+ up to 114-22. Gains were then extended up to 115-11 session highs once the data was released.

On the equity side, stock futures suddenly spiked more than 1%. Trading in Treasury futures surged, pushing benchmark yields lower by about 4 basis points. Those are major moves in such a short period of time — bigger than full-session swings on some days. And they should get scrutinized by regulators, long-time market observers say, even if a leak is only one of several possible explanations for why traders suddenly started buying right before the report was published.

Remember that current Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was accused of leaking information to a NY hedge fund ahead of the Fed Open Market Committee meeting? And then we have the Wolf of Wall Street.

I wonder if the REAL Wolf of Wall Street did this?

MBA Mortgage Applications Rise 3.2% From Previous Week, But Purchase Applications Down 38% From Same Week Last Year As Fed Tightens

Mortgage applications increased 3.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 9, 2022.

The Refinance Index increased 3 percent from the previous week and was 85 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 1 percent compared with the previous week and was 38 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

You can see the impact of seasonalilty on mortgage purchase applications (white line). They peaked in the week of May 6, 2022 and have been generally declining since. While refi applications (orange line) increased over the past week, they have been pummelled by The Fed tightening.

It is quiet today as investors wait for The Fed to announce a 50 basis point rate increase. Fed Funds Futures point to almost another 100 basis point hike by May 5, 2023, then a slow decline in The Fed Funds target rate (upper bound).

And here is Sam Bankman-Fried and his high-powered legal defense.

The Fed Needs To Take A Look At Itself: WSJ Editorial By Levy And Plosser (Taylor Rule Implied Target Rate Of 12.07%, Current Rate At 4%)

Paul Revere and the Raiders said it best about The Federal Reserve. Take a look at yourself.

Mickey Levy of Berenberg Capital and Charles Plosser wrote a great op-ed in the Wall Street Journal entitled “The Federal Reserve Needs a Hard Look in the Mirror.” Here is a Fed Reserve St Louis paper by Levy and Plosser entitled “The Murky Future of Monetary Policy.”

Abstract

In August 2020, the Federal Reserve unveiled its new strategic framework. One major objective of the Fed was to address its concerns over the potential consequences for the conduct of monetary policy when the policy rate was constrained by its effective lower bound. This article concludes that there are significant flaws in the new strategy and that it encourages a more discretionary approach to monetary policy and increases the risks of policy errors. The new framework is an overly complex and asymmetric flexible average inflation targeting scheme that introduces a significant inflationary bias into policy and expands the scope for discretion by broadening the Fed’s employment mandate to “maximum inclusive employment.” In a postscript, the article describes how quickly the flaws have been revealed and urges a reset toward a more systematic and coherent strategy that is transparent and broadly understood by the public.

I attended a speech by macoeconomist Gershon Mandelker at the National Association of Realtors where he called on the Federal Reserve to follow some observable rule rather than the complex (or seat of the pants) approach to monetary policy.

With today’s inflation report (core inflation YoY of 6%) results in a Taylor Rule estimate of The Fed Funds Target Rate of 12.07%. We are struggling to reach 5% as a “terminal” Fed target rate (currently at 4% and likely to rise 50 basis points at tomorrow’s Fed meeting).

The matrix of CPI and unemployment under the Taylor Rule shows that The Fed’s target rate isn’t at even 5% for any relevant combination of core CPI (inflation) and unemployment rate.

Note that since the financial crisis the Fed’s target rate (white line) has been consistely below the Taylor Rule implied rate (blue dashed line).

Here is Treasury Secretary and former Fed Chair Janet Yellen laughing at those who want some kind of observable Fed rule.

Gone In November? US Inflation Growth Slows To 7.1% YoY, Real Hourly Wage Growth “Improves” To -1.9% YoY (Fuel Oil UP 65.7%, Food At Home UP 12%)

Is inflation “gone in November”? Nope. Slowing, yes, but at 7.1% YoY and core inflation at 6.0% YoY, it is still considerably higher than The Fed’s target of 2%.

And the American middle class and low wage workers are still suffering with REAL average hourly earnings growth at -1.9% YoY.

The biggest losers in the inflation report for November? Food at home up 12% YoY, Fuel Oil up 65.7% YoY and “shelter” up 7.1% YoY. I call this the household bundle … of pain.

On the jobs report, the 10-year US Treasury yield fell nearly 20 basis points. Mortgage rates should follow downwards tomorrow.

Here are Joe Biden and The Federal Reserve doing a magic trick by turning a great economy into a recession.

Pre-Fed Status: 100% Probability Of US Recession In 2023, Mortgage Rate Steady (US Yield Curve Now Inverted For 116 Straight Days, Implied Rate Hike Of +50 BPS To 4.50%)

Fun week ahead. US inflation numbers are out on Tuesday (forecast? CPI YoY = 7.3%, Core CPI YoY = 6.1%) and The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) rate decision is on Wendesday.

So, where are we sitting on Monday?

First, the US Treasury 10Y-2Y yield curve has been inverted (a precursor to recession) for 116 straight days). Second, the likelihood of recession in 2023 is 100%. Third, with the forecast of core inflation at a still numbing 6.1%, The Fed seems dead set on raising their target rate by 50 basis points to 4.50% on Wednesday.

dddd

So, as The Fed debates recession versus fighting inflation (partly caused by The Fed), we have Kevin Malone from The Office debating Angela versus double-fudge brownies:

“I hear Angela’s party will have double fudge brownies. But it will also have Angela. Double fudge.. Angela.. double fudge….. Angela. Hmm..” I am betting on risking a recession by raising the Fed’s target rate by 50 basis points.

Blackrock’s Dire Forecast For 2023 And FAANG’s Loss Of >$3 Trillion In 2023 (M2 Money Velocity Near Lowest In History, US Yield Curve STILL Inverted)

Blackrock has a grim presentation on investing in 2023. Particularly with regards to The Federal Reserve and their ability to stave-off a recession (comin’ at you!).

Central bankers won’t ride to the rescue when growth slows in this new regime, contrary to what investors have come to expect. They are deliberately causing recessions by overtightening policy to try to rein in inflation. That makes recession foretold. We see central banks eventually backing off from rate hikes as the economic damage becomes reality. We expect inflation to cool but stay persistently higher than central bank targets of 2%.

For some investors, this year’s rout in high-flying technology stocks is more than a bear market: It’s the end of an era for a handful of giant companies such as Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.

Those companies — known along with Apple Inc., Netflix Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. as the FAANGs — led the move to a digital world and helped power a 13-year bull run. And FAANG drawdown have reached over $3 trillion.

FAANGs (Meta, Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Netflix) are getting clobbered in 2022.

Typically, when The Fed prints too much money, such as 10% or higher (red line), inflation follows. Particularly when The Fed prints at 25% YoY in Q4 2020, it was followed by the highest inflation rate in 40 years. But if M2 Money continues to slow, inflation will likely slow, but not to The Fed’s target of 2%.

Despite what Minneapolis Fed’s Neal Kashkari said about The Fed having infinite printing resourses, The Fed is going to fight inflation THAT THEY HELPED CAUSE. Biden’s energy policies (did you see that Elon Musk has a car that uses plentiful hydrogen?), and excessive Federal spending by Biden/Pelosi/Schumer, are culprits in creating the supply chain problems facing America. BUT after the 25% surge in M2 Money in 2020 and 2021, we saw M2 Money VELOCITY crash and burn to its lowest level in history. Which means the “bang for the buck” for printing more money is negligible.

Of course, big tech firms got caught influencing the 2020 Presidential election (see Musk’s release of Twitter files) and engaged in restriction of the 1st Amendment (Freedom of Speech). How much will that impact FAANG stocks going foward?

And yes, the US Treasury yield curve is inverted pointing to a recession in 2023.

And yes, apparently Biden was complicit in the Twitter fiasco.

Shotgun Joe! Shooting down freedom of speech.

Inflation Gone In November? US Producer Prices Top Estimates At 7.4% YoY, Supporting Fed Hikes Into 2023

Is inflation gone in November? Nope.

US producer prices rose in November by more than forecast, driven by services and underscoring the stickiness of inflationary pressures that supports Federal Reserve interest-rate increases into 2023.

The producer price index for final demand climbed 0.3% for a third month and was up 7.4% from a year earlier, Labor Department data showed Friday. The monthly gains for October and September were revised higher.

At the same time, the annual increase was the smallest in 18 months, extending a months-long easing and suggesting the central bank still has scope to pause its rate hikes next year as expected. Cooler demand at home and abroad has taken some stress off supply chains.

The data come just days before the release of the closely watched consumer price index, which is forecast to show inflation, while much too high, continues to decelerate.

While PPI is declining, it is still far above The Fed’s inflation rate of 2% (red line).

Watch out for energy prices when the sleeping giant (China) opens up again and demand for energy skyrockets. Meanwhile, Clueless Joe is merrily draining the US Strategic Petroleun Reserve.

Lastly, congratulations to former Cleveland Brown QB Baker Mayfield for winning with the LA Rams against the Las Vegas Raiders with a stunning 99 yard drive for a TD at the end of the game.

Green Man! Mortgage Rate Remains Steady Ahead Of Dec 14th Fed Meeting (Part Of The Bigger Slowdown Picture, Not Government Policy) 50 BPS Increase Expected

The good news for Americans? The global slowdown is helping to lower US Treasury yields which, in turn, helps to help to lower US mortgages rates. Kind of a perverse “good news” story when you think about it.

The bigger picture is the slowdown caused by 1) a global economic slowdown and 2) the tightening of Fed monetary policy to fight inflation.

Look at the Case-Shiller national home price growth YoY (blue line) against M2 Money growth YoY (green line). Just move the green line to the right and it covers home price growth. Both are slowing down with anticipated Fed rate hikes (red line) now at 50 basis points for the December 14th FOMC meeting. And note that The Fed’s balance sheet (orange line) has barely budged.

Here is a video of Fed Chair Jerome Powell filming American households reaction to Fed tightening thanks to Biden/DC inflation.

Jerome Powell on the left, American middle class on right.

The Tighten Up! US Treasury Yield Curve DOWN -206% In 2021, M2 Money DOWN -90%, S&P 500 DOWN -17.5%, Bitcoin DOWN -64.2% (Biden And NY Fed’s Project Cedar To Replace US Dollar)

Unlike Archie Bell and the Drells, this tighten-up is about The Federal Reserve tightening-up its monetary policy.

On December 31, 2021, the US Treasury yield curve (10Y-2Y) stood at +77.4 basis points, generally a good omen.

Then markets woke up. And not in a woke way.

As The Fed tightens to tamp down on inflation in 2022, we are seeing a pattern. The US Treasury 10Y=2Y yield curve has sunk to -82 basis points, a -206% decline.

In addition to the inversion of the US Treasury yield curve we have witnessed M2 Money growth declining -90%, the S&P 50) index down -17.5%, Bitcoin down -64.2% and gold down only -2.3%.

But we now have to worry about Project Cedar, a seemingly innocent project to replace the US Dollar. A new digital currency would allow Washington DC to monitor your purchases and behavior. And perhaps create a Social Credit Score like in China measuring how well you conform to Biden’s notion of a utopian, green society.

And the US yield curve has been inverted for 109 straight days.

Crypto Bank Silvergate Asked by US Senators to Explain FTX Ties (Where Were The Regulators??)

Always behind the curve, US Senators (Warren, Marshall, Kennedy) want to get to the bottom of Silvergate’s decline and its relationship with Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX. This reminds me of the 2008 financial crisis when The Federal Reserve claimed they never saw it coming. Despite the data.

But back to crypto bank Silvergate.

Crypto bank Silvergate Capital Corp. was asked by three US Senators to release all records about transfers of funds for the collapsed FTX empire of Sam Bankman-Fried.

“Your bank’s involvement in the transfer of FTX customer funds to Alameda reveals what appears to be an egregious failure of your bank’s responsibility to monitor for and report suspicious financial activity carried out by its clients,” Senators Elizabeth Warren, Roger Marshall and John Kennedy wrote in a letter released Tuesday. “The public is owed a full accounting of the financial activities that may have led to the loss of billions in customer assets, and any role that Silvergate may have played in these losses.”

Shares of the La Jolla, California-based bank fell as much as 8%. The slide extends Silvergate’s losses on the year to more than 84% and has it trading at a fresh 52-week low. Not surprisingly, Silvergates’ stock price is closely linked to cryptocurrency Bitcoin.

The letter cite concerns about the banking services that Silvergate provided to both FTX as well as Bankman-Fried’s trading firm, Alameda Research. It says the arrangement between FTX and Alameda depended on Silvergate’s depository services and puts the bank “at the center of the improper transmission of FTX customer funds.”

“Silvergate’s failure to take adequate notice of this scheme suggests that it may have failed to implement or maintain an effective anti-money laundering program, as required under the Bank Secrecy Act,” the Senators said.

Perhaps Silvergate should be renamed Silverfish. But seriously, no US Senator or DC regulator saw the following chart?? Bitcoin and other cryptos have been clobbered in 2022 as The Fed tightens monetary policy to combat inflation.