Over the past couple of weeks and into the next few weeks, you will likely be inundated with economic forecasts and stock market scenarios for 2025. We do not want to add to your pile of scenarios, but we think it may be valuable to share the latest thoughts from our colleague Jim Colquitt of […]
AI machine learning receives most of the publicity concerning today’s technological advancements, but the potential in quantum computing is just as exciting, if not more so. There’s a fundamental difference between quantum computing and AI. Artificial intelligence utilizes classical binary computing, where information is processed in bits, which can either be in an on or […]
2024 was an unbelievable year for the S&P 500 up 28% YTD. The index constituents’ average and median returns are 15.7% and 11.8%, respectively. Altogether, this year’s index returns dwarf the long-term average S&P 500 return of 7.9% since 1928. The Finviz heatmap pictured below shows the 2024 returns of the stocks in the index. […]
The Fed uses many inflation gauges to develop its forecasts. An important one that Powell has flagged many times is inflation expectations. However, there is a weakness in using inflation expectations as an input to the Fed’s forecasts. Inflation expectations are collected from two primary sources: markets and surveys. Both traders and individuals have political […]
We want to take this opportunity to wish you, your family, and your loved ones a very merry and joyful Christmas. We also want to say “Thank You” for all of your support, loyal readership, and the friends we have made through sharing ideas over the last year. While it may be deemed “politically incorrect” these days to say such […]
Administrative Note: We will not publish a daily market commentary tomorrow or Wednesday. Everyone at RIA Advisors would like to extend our sincere blessings to you and your families and our wishes for a very Merry Christmas. _________________ According to Bank of America, institutional fund managers are sitting on record low cash allocations as they […]
Treasury yields rose sharply following the Fed meeting on Wednesday, yet they are collapsing in the world’s second-largest economy, China. While our economy is robust, large foreign economies, including China, struggle. Our recent article Global Conditions and Commentary, highlights the strong historical relationship between the global economy and the U.S. Moreover, it summarizes the economic […]
As widely expected, the Fed cut the Fed Funds rate by 25bps, to 4.25-4.50%, at yesterday’s FOMC meeting. Moreover, they intimated that after cutting rates by 1% since September, they are likely to be more data-dependent, which may slow the pace of further rate cuts. They want to see inflation trend lower again and/or the […]
In August, the BLS revised 2024 employment growth lower by 818k jobs in its preliminary revision of its Current Employment Statistics (CES). Despite the substantial revision, more reductions to the official employment data are likely to come next month. In January, the BLS will release its final benchmark revision. The preliminary and final revisions to […]