To get John Authers’ newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here. Tuesday’s core CPI print for February came in hotter than expected, yet the stock market wasn’t bothered. For much of 2023, the S&P 500 moved inversely to expected fed funds rates, with the index selling off while the Federal Reserve was expected … Read more
To get John Authers’ newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here. It’s still impossible to have any conversation about markets without being asked whether a bubble is already inflating. So let’s return to the topic, yet again. And to be clear about the terms, we’re not asking whether the market is too cheap, … Read more
‘Tis the season of wavering New Year’s resolutions. And 2024 might be an especially hard time to keep to a new diet because there are so many contradictory claims — and so little left on the menu that isn’t being vilified by someone with initials after their name. Mainstream experts are still warning us against … Read more
Economists did not believe it was possible, but they’ve been wrong a lot lately, and in their defense it has only ever happened once (or maybe twice) before: We may be witnessing that rare achievement known as a soft landing. The US Federal Reserve’s latest forecast expects the inflation rate to slide back down to … Read more
Texans pride themselves on being champions of business. So, if you think the biggest investors in and financiers of the fastest-growing Texas companies are welcomed as tried-and-true capitalists, think again. And if you believe Texas and its top-rated AAA debt would never willingly borrow money on behalf of citizens at anything but the best rates … Read more
For much of the past two years, the US economy’s extraordinary resilience has revolved around demand for services. That’s been a zombie narrative that’s refused to die a tidy death — perhaps until now. Despite a cooling in some services spending in early 2023, the category caught a second wind thanks, in part, to Taylor … Read more
European inflation is falling faster than the European Central Bank had expected, slowing to a 2.4% annual pace in November after peaking at 10.6% in October 2022. The central bank will struggle to insist on its “higher for longer” interest-rate stance if the euro-area economy continues to weaken even as consumer price increases ebb. Significantly, … Read more
Andrea Orcel has seen UniCredit Group SpA’s share price more than treble in his first three years as the Italian bank’s chief executive officer. But Orcel isn’t running victory laps; nor should he be. What the former head of UBS Group AG’s investment bank has achieved so far was the easy part. Finding low-risk, sustainable … Read more
His timbre was just one reason I always looked forward to hearing Henry Kissinger, who died today after living a full century, expound on international relations. It was gravelly and deep, and grew only more so over the years. But it wasn’t just the voice. It was his unique accent, eccentric to some but strangely … Read more
Programming note: Money Stuff will be off tomorrow, back on Monday. One thing that JPMorgan Chase & Co., one of the world’s biggest banks, wants to do is lend money to big corporate and private equity clients. In many ways, JPMorgan seems well suited to doing this: As a giant bank with more than $3 … Read more