Merriman Market Analyst
Free Weekly Forecast
MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING DECEMBER 25, 2023 ©
December 22, 2023
NOTE: There will be no weekly column next week. This will be our last column of 2023. I will be sending out a letter of thanks and appreciation to everyone on our list, discussing a lot of things that are on my mind as we enter the critical election year...
Read MoreMMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING DECEMBER 18, 2023 ©
December 15, 2023
REVIEW This week, it (the Fed) pivoted. “You’re getting now back to the point where both mandates (Inflation and employment) are important,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters Wednesday after the central bank’s meeting. This pivot means the Fed is ready to backstop the economic recovery. It doesn’t rule out...
Read MoreMMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING DECEMBER 11, 2023 ©
December 8, 2023
REVIEW Employers added a seasonally adjusted 199,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported Friday, slower than earlier in the year but consistent with gains before the pandemic. November’s job gain was roughly 169,000, slightly cooler than 180,000 in October. The unemployment rate fell to 3.7%. It had climbed to...
Read MoreMMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING DECEMBER 4, 2023 ©
December 1, 2023
REVIEW A week’s long rally in stocks and government bonds has shown no signs of slowing down. The Dow rose for the fifth consecutive week, its longest winning streak since 2021. The S&P 500 jumped to its highest closing level since March 2022 after setting a new yearly high on...
Read MoreMMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING NOVEMBER 27, 2023 ©
November 24, 2023
REVIEW The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Friday, as the major averages notched a four-week winning streak. The moves come as Treasury yields this week hit multi-month lows on hope inflation is cooling and the Federal Reserve may be done raising rates. The benchmark rate was up 6 basis...
Read MoreMMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING NOVEMBER 20, 2023 ©
November 17, 2023
NOTE: U.S. markets will be closed Thursday, November 23, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. REVIEW The U.S. economy is approaching what most economists had thought either unlikely or impossible: inflation returning to its prepandemic norm without a recession or even much economic weakness, a so-called soft landing. Six months...
Read MoreMMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING NOVEMBER 13, 2023 ©
November 10, 2023
REVIEW Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he and his colleagues remain steadfast in getting policy in line with their 2% inflation goal, but “we are not confident that we have achieved such a stance.” – Jeff Cox, “Powell Says Fed is ‘Not Confident’ It Has Done Enough to Bring Inflation...
Read MoreMMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING NOVEMBER 6, 2023 ©
November 3, 2023
REVIEW Bad news about the labor market is good news for stocks today. All three major U.S. indexes climbed Friday, helping them to their best weeks of the year. One reason: The latest jobs report showed hiring slowed. The U.S. added 150,000 jobs in October, below economists’ projections, while the...
Read MoreMMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING OCTOBER 30, 2023 ©
October 27, 2023
REVIEW Dollars to defeat Russian and Iranian aggression are necessary. Yet with $33 trillion in debt, there is no room for both guns and butter. – Kimberly Strassel, “Biden’s Supplemental War Games,” Wall Street Journal, October 27, 2024. If you are a subscriber to MMA’s daily, weekly, or monthly reports,...
Read MoreMMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING OCTOBER 23, 2023 ©
October 20, 2023
Listen on Spotify, Apple, and Amazon Watch on YouTube REVIEW Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested the run-up in long-term Treasury yields could allow the central bank to suspend a historic run of interest-rate increases so long as recent progress on inflation continues. That is in part because the swift rise in long-term rates...
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