Does anything matter? Good news? Bad news? Any news?
Of course, we’re talking about financial markets. Knowing that football (American style) has just kicked off, it might be that everyone’s attention is focused there instead of the markets. So far, every team is on course for a winning season until… As are the financial markets. Looks like another winning year… until. But what if there is no “until?”
Remember a time when bad news mattered? A slowing economy, a war (or three), government shutdowns, social unrest, etc. would be greeted with adverse market reactions. Oh, so quaint. Not anymore. Bad news is actually good news. Why? Well, if any of those things actually made the markets go down, it would give investors a buying opportunity. Dips are good news. A recession? Good news. Interest rates will ease (sorry about your job). Nuclear war? Super good news. A BIG dip to buy. Bad news? Who cares.
Which would imply that good news would be bad news then, right? Oh no, no, no. Good news is good news. One would think that if we had a strong economy, strong job growth, etc., inflation would tick up and the Fed may not ease interest rates, or even raise them. Who cares about inflation (certainly not the Fed). Of course, all that good news would be bad news since there wouldn’t be any market dips to buy. Damn.
So what is out this week? NOTHING. What’s in this week? EVERYTHING. There seems to be no bad news, and it also seems everything is good news. Come on, Bad Bunny (or should it be “Good Bunny”) is going to do the Super Bowl Halftime Show (not Taylor Swift/Kelce). How good is that? Right now, everyone’s favorite NFL team is still in the running for the “Bad Bunny Bowl.” How great is that. Financial markets are zooming up. Awesome. It’s all good, right?
Or… who cares. Bad news is so quaint.
