Another week of gains ignoring the Federal Reserve raising the Fed Funds rate. The equities markets are ignoring almost everything.
The S&P 500 stock-index could climb 3% in July alone.
The earnings season has been very positive and I expect that Apple and Amazon will do the same.
It is just hard to find something that can spook investors.
That, of course, is the real sign that something difficult probably will happen.
Markets don’t go straight up.
The problem is that I can’t conjure up what could put the brakes on the movement upwards.
Inflation is with us, but is not increasing as fast.
The rate of increase is 3% and the Fed is looking for 2%.
That is not that much lower.
It does concern me that slowing the rate of inflation helps, but all of those recent increases in prices are here to stay.
No one is saying things are getting cheaper.
It is noticeable that energy prices have become to climb as gas prices are moving up. At least here in Texas, where much of the peaking load for electricity is based on natural gas, has been a bit of a buffer with natural gas prices below $3 per Mcf.
I would say that is encouraging except for the fact that my AC runs constantly in this heat.
It appears that payrolls are increasing at a higher rate than inflation so that workers can at least try to keep up.
Honestly, as I go out and shop, I don’t see a drop in consumer spending.
The statistics indicate that consumers are out there buying with little or no end in sight.
This is particularly good for the economy, but I’m not sure that personal debt is increasing far too quickly.
I wish I was smart enough to actually understand the impact of AI, but that is beyond my pay grade.
It will be a game changer - much like the Dell phone has become.
That little gadget has totally reformed how we do almost everything.
People literally do anything with that little box in their pocket.
It guides you, communicates, takes photos and keeps you in the loop.
To think we actually used to do things without a care in the world that we were not connected.
The times have changed and it will happen faster with greater impact.
These are the few times that I am actually glad to be my age as it really isn’t going to mean much to me.
