The Bank and The Fed have served notice they will remain vigilant – higher for longer! Markets would be wrong to expect early easing. Wage Inflation and Energy remain very real threats over the medium term – it may trigger volatility as markets understand the new reality.
Markets are treading water trying to figure out directions – some of the underlying narratives look alluring, but they are not all they seem. In confused, uncertain markets, the trick is to remain suspicious of what others are following.
Nvidia confirms the AI everything bubble! FOMO means everyone will play catch up! There is a growing divergence likely as inflation, growth and interest rates spells deep trouble for Europe and the ECB, while the USA recovers and the UK muddles through.
Lots of conflicting signals in markets, but what does it all mean? It largely boils down to inflation – to understand it we have to think beyond conventional economics and address the causes and reality, rather than punishing the economy!
US Inflation looks to have been beaten, but that might not mean very much if the global economy is still headed into recession. Rates and consumption are a lagging problem for the markets, and there is a chance even strong economies will stall.
As we wait for The Bank of England to address the latest inflation miss – consider Pencil Complexity Theory, Cucumber Inflation Modelling and why Wimbledon will be Hell this year.
The widening gulf in the outlook for the US and UK economies is stark. UK housing and the mortgage markets are a rising threat – but maybe we are looking at the all the wrong things as the Climate Crisis (oh, yes, remember that) comes back into focus.
Two parts this morning: What the Bank of England actually said, and The Big Lesson from the Ukraine War is simple: “Things are seldom as bad as we fear, but never as good as we hope.” Global geopolitics and markets have taken a knock, but will coalesce around whatever new global links emerge.
“Curiously, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias was; Oh no, not again..”
Inflation is what inflation is.. Prices are still rising, Central Banks are watching, the US debt ceiling crisis will distract us all, and Donald Trump remains… “extraordinary”. All feels a bit unstable.
Don’t assume inflation is licked, don’t assume interest rates will stop rising, don’t assume there aren’t further bank failures to come, don’t assume politics and society will cope well, but don’t assume it’s all end of the world. In periods of financial uncertainty there is opportunity…
