Europe is about to become President Trump’s next target. The good news: a US/EU trade war will be short as common ground to achieve a deal exists. The bad news: European assets remain at the mercy of heightened uncertainty. How…
December job openings missed estimates, decreasing to 7.6m from an upwardly revised 8.2m in November. Quits, hires, but also layoffs all ticked up marginally, leaving the general “slowing-but-not-collapsing” direction of the labor…
The January ISM Manufacturing index beat estimates, increasing to 50.9 to end a 26-month streak of manufacturing contraction. New orders rose to 55.1 from 52.1. Employment is also back in expansion. Prices paid strengthened as well,…
Trump’s Tariff ObsessionDonald Trump was elected on his promise to reduce inflation, curb illegal immigration, and expunge woke ideology. Tariffs were never very high on the agenda for most voters. Nevertheless, Trump has been…
The ECB cut its deposit rate to 2.75%, as was widely anticipated. President Christine Lagarde did not provide any fireworks, but the Governing Council’s message was clear: Policy is restrictive, and inflation will fall further. As a…
Advanced Q4 US GDP missed estimates, slowing down to 2.3% quarterly annualized growth from 3.1%. The weakness was however driven by inventories. Consumer spending beat estimates and accelerated to 4.2% from 3.7% in Q3. Growth is…
The ECB cut by 25 bps as expected, bringing the deposit facility rate to 2.75%. Despite avoiding committing to a path for policy, President Lagarde reiterated the disinflationary process is “well on track”, and did not push against…
