NewEdge Wealth’s Post

The narrative ping pong continues. In just two weeks, the market has shifted from expecting sharply weakening growth and aggressive Fed easing to a view of resilient growth and moderating inflation. This shift was sparked by two consecutive drops in initial jobless claims and a better-than-expected July retail sales report, countering the “imminent demise” and “emergency cuts” talk from just 10 days ago. Now, it looks like the Fed will move with "Slow Hands" as it considers easing policy in September. Read this week's #WeeklyEdge here: https://lnkd.in/edxfQg_K #NewEdgeCapitalGroup

Major equity markets ended the week positive. Thursday’s weekly initial jobless claim rose to an eight-month high of 231,000, reinforcing ideas from last week's April jobs report that the labor market may be cooling, giving the Fed better chances to lower rates. In addition, U.S consumer sentiment fell sharply in May to 67.4 from 77.2 last month as consumers’ outlooks are predicated on high inflation, interest rates, and fears that unemployment may rise. Next week’s focus will be inflation and retail sales data, both elemental to the Fed’s thinking on monetary policy.

A quick recap of the latest consumer economic indicators below shows that the US #economy (which is two-thirds consumer driven) remains resilient, and by some measures thriving, at the start of 2024. Despite clear headwinds for the industrial/manufacturing sectors, I am optimistic about our prospects this year, and even more so in 2025. 👨💼 The #jobmarket is healthy. We added 216K jobs in December, and nearly 3M jobs for 2023 as a whole. The #unemploymentrate is a low 3.7%. 💵 #Wages are 4.1% above the year-ago level, outpacing inflation and helping consumers feel like they can continue to spend money. 🛒 #retailsales finished 2023 up 3.4% year-over-year, with the holiday season reported as stronger than anticipated. Alex's Analysis: I interact with a lot of business leaders in a wide variety of industries when I speak at conferences and trade shows, which I do a lot. They are realistic about their prospects for 2024, but also cautiously optimistic about the future. Many of them are planning on utilizing the slower macro environment to invest in their businesses to position them for further expansion in the years to come. I believe this is the right approach and recommend that you do the same. Your positive mindset will be noted by your peers and colleagues, and they will become more optimistic themselves.

What do the latest inflation numbers tell us about the health of the consumer? How are volatile markets and geopolitical tension affecting the outlook for oil prices? BMO Chief Investment Officer Sadiq S. Adatia discusses these timely topics and more in his weekly column #ThisWeekWithSadiq http://spr.ly/6005lULaP

What do the latest inflation numbers tell us about the health of the consumer? How are volatile markets and geopolitical tension affecting the outlook for oil prices? BMO Chief Investment Officer Sadiq S. Adatia discusses these timely topics and more in his weekly column #ThisWeekWithSadiq http://spr.ly/6005lULaP

What do the latest inflation numbers tell us about the health of the consumer? How are volatile markets and geopolitical tension affecting the outlook for oil prices? BMO Chief Investment Officer Sadiq S. Adatia discusses these timely topics and more in his weekly column #ThisWeekWithSadiq http://spr.ly/6005lULaP

What do the latest inflation numbers tell us about the health of the consumer? How are volatile markets and geopolitical tension affecting the outlook for oil prices? BMO Chief Investment Officer Sadiq S. Adatia discusses these timely topics and more in his weekly column #ThisWeekWithSadiq http://spr.ly/6005lULaP

What do the latest inflation numbers tell us about the health of the consumer? How are volatile markets and geopolitical tension affecting the outlook for oil prices? BMO Chief Investment Officer Sadiq S. Adatia discusses these timely topics and more in his weekly column #ThisWeekWithSadiq http://spr.ly/6005lULaP

What do the latest inflation numbers tell us about the health of the consumer? How are volatile markets and geopolitical tension affecting the outlook for oil prices? BMO Chief Investment Officer Sadiq S. Adatia discusses these timely topics and more in his weekly column #ThisWeekWithSadiq http://spr.ly/6005lULaP