Russell Shor

During the last policy meeting, Fed officials reached a unanimous decision to raise interest rates, despite considerable deliberation on whether it would be wiser to pause the tightening efforts. The minutes of the FOMC’s meeting held on 2-3 May, will be released today, and will provide valuable insights into the extent of the officials' consideration of maintaining interest rates and whether any committee members advocated for a pause.

Yields Chart Uptrend Source: www.tradingview.com The top candlestick chart is the weekly US 2-year yield, with the weekly US 10-year yield underneath. The 2-year is a good proxy for monetary policy and the 10-year represents fixed income investors' sentiment. Both instruments have charted a higher trough followed by a higher peak, putting their yields into uptrend. This is in stark contrast to the sentiment shift of March (blue rectangles), where…

On Friday, during a panel discussion, Fed Chair Powell suggested that rates may not climb as much as expected due to credit tightening. Other Fed speakers suggest that FOMC members are developing diverging views. China data hints at a slowing momentum in recovery and EU CPI is still too high. This week sees two more inflation data points – core PCE on Friday and UK inflation on Wednesday. Wednesday will…

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet again on Monday to try to find a deal to avoid a U.S. default. Lawmakers are still far apart on an agreement to raise the federal borrowing limit, and time is running out. McCarthy said there's no agreement yet, despite a productive phone call with Biden. Biden called on Republicans to reconsider their extreme positions, as he finds their proposals…

The FAANG stocks are influential. They are registering as overbought, which may have broader market implications.

The JPN225 is trading at its highest levels since August 1990. It is up over 6% month-to-date and up over 16% over the last 12 months.

Congress is responsible for increasing these spending limits to avoid default, but Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will not do so without an agreement on spending cuts and spending limits.

President Biden met with key Republican and Democratic congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday. They aimed to reach an agreement to raise the debt limit, but the discussions ended without a consensus.

Debt ceiling negotiations take center stage in Washington today. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated on Monday that June 1 is the deadline when the Department of the Treasury might face challenges in meeting its financial obligations if the debt ceiling is not raised. President Joe Biden's meeting with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is expected to be a crucial moment in these negotiations. While Biden expressed cautious optimism during…

Contrary to market expectations of potential interest rate cuts in response to an impending economic downturn and potential recession, central bank officials have indicated their preference for maintaining and potentially raising rates.

On Monday, European regulators granted approval to Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a deal worth $69 billion. While this decision does not guarantee the acquisition's completion, it may assist Microsoft in addressing objections raised by the United States and the United Kingdom.