Dow rose 51, advancers over decliners about 2-1 & NAZ was up 92. The MLP index was fractionally higher in the 247s & the REIT index added 3+ to the 341s. Junk bond funds edge higher & Treasuries had more buying which reduced yields. Oil dropped 2+ to the 83s after yesterday's strong advance & gold went up 8 to 1883.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank Pres Raphael Bostic said that he thinks the Fed doesn't need to raise interest rates further as it looks to quash inflation, suggesting the central bank's actions to date may be enough to restore price stability. Speaking at the annual convention of the American Bankers Association, Bostic acknowledged that there's "certainly more for us to do" in getting inflation down to the Fed's target rate of 2% from the 3.7% year-over-year inflation recorded in Aug. "I actually expect that there will be bumps along the way, but I actually think that we’re in a good place for policy to get us to 2%," he said. "In my outlook on the dot plot, I don’t have a recession in it," Bostic explained. "I have the economy slowing down, but not moving into a recessionary mode because there’s a lot of momentum that was present and I think that is going to be able to sop up a lot of our slowdown." "I think that our policy rate is at a sufficiently restrictive position to get inflation down to 2%. We have clearly moved into a restrictive place, the economy is clearly slowing down, and a lot of our policy impact has yet to come," he added. Bostic pointed to a lot of refinancing of commercial corp bonds that will occur over the next 1½ years that are going to "come in at a much higher basis which is going to limit the amount of energy that those are going to be able to produce into the economy." He noted that the war in the Middle East that broke out over the weekend following Hamas' terror attack on Israel created uncertainty for both the US the & global economy, which will cause rethinking on markets & investments. Bostic went on to say that the last few years have brought several unanticipated events, including the COVID pandemic & Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has taught him & other members of the Fed to "just be ready and move into action mode" when needed. Bostic has been one of the Fed/s more dovish members on interest rate hikes & was one of the earliest to call for an end to them. At the Fed's meeting last month, most of his colleagues forecasted one more rate hike for a qtr of a percentage point before the end of the year.
Atlanta Fed chief Bostic doesn't see a need for more rate hikes
Inflation at the wholesale level surged more than expected in Sep,
underscoring the challenge of taming price pressures within the
economy. The Labor Dept said that its producer price index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level
before it reaches consumers, climbed 0.5% in Sep from the
previous month. On an annual basis, prices are up 2.2%, the largest
increase since Apr. Those figures are both higher than the 1.6% headline increase & 0.3% monthly figure forecast. In another sign that suggests high inflation has been slow to
dissipate, core prices, which exclude the more volatile measurements of
food & energy, rose 0.3% for the month. That is higher than both the
0.2% estimate & the reading recorded last month. The figure was up 2.7% on a 12-month basis. The data comes one day before the Labor Dept releases its more closely watched consumer price index,
which measures the prices paid directly by consumers. The gauge is
expected to show that inflation cooled ever so slightly last month as
high prices continue to squeeze consumers. Both releases are considered to be important measurements of inflation,
with the PPI believed to be a leading indicator of inflationary
pressures as costs work their way down to consumers. The different
gauges point to inflation that is still running above the Federal
Reserve's preferred 2% target. The back-to-back inflation reports will have major implications for the
Fed, which is tightening rates at the fastest pace in decades as it
tries to cool the economy. The central bank has approved 11 rate hikes over the course of 16
months, lifting the federal funds rate to the highest level since 2001.
Wholesale inflation accelerates more than expected in September
General Motors (GM) has reached a tentative agreement for nearly 4300 Canadian autoworkers after the union representing those workers called a national strike yesterday. Canadian
union Unifor said the “strike actions are on hold to
allow the membership to vote on the tentative agreement.” A majority of
workers must vote in support of the pact for ratification. Unifor
initiated a national strike after the sides failed to reach a deal by
a Mon deadline. The strike briefly affected an assembly
plant that produces light- & heavy-duty Chevrolet Silverado trucks;
production of some V6 & V8 engines used in a variety of vehicles such
as the Chevrolet Equinox & GM's full-size SUVs; a stamping facility; & a parts distribution center. “When faced with the shutdown of these key facilities General Motors had
no choice but to get serious at the table and agree to the pattern,”
Unifor Pres Lana Payne said. GM confirmed the “record” tentative agreement: “This
record agreement, subject to member ratification, recognizes the many
contributions of our represented team members with significant increases
in wages, benefits and job security while building on GM’s historic
investments in Canadian manufacturing.” The stock was up 34¢.
If you would like to learn more about GM, click on this link:
club.ino.com/trend/analysis/stock/GM_aid=CD3289&a_bid=6aeoso5b6f7
GM reaches deal with Canadian autoworkers hours after union initiates strikes
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