Seriously now, last week inflation was a hot topic (before Friday anyway) with the release of the Fed’s PCE (personal consumption expenditure) index. Inflation came in on target. Inflation didn’t ease, nor did it increase. Yawn. This week, inflation is OUT.
This week it’s all about employment (jobs) numbers. Friday brings August employment numbers with all their uncertainty. Go away, inflation — we’ve got jobs to look forward to. The really HOT topic is whether these numbers will influence the Fed’s thinking on interest rates. A weak jobs report may make the Fed ease rates with the economy slowing. A strong jobs number may make the Fed pause on cutting rates. Oh well, these employment numbers will be old news next week anyway.
Oh, remember last week? Peace was “in” for Ukraine, but unfortunately nobody knew. But no matter. The Russians and Ukrainians are “low priority” this week. The NEW hot place is Venezuela. All of a sudden, it’s hot. Trump has a $50M bounty on the Venezuelan President (Maduro) and has sent 3 or 4 destroyers, a couple troop ships, and a couple submarines down to the area. Not surprisingly, Maduro is upset. He is marshaling his troops to defend his regime. New week, new hot spot. FYI, oil (lots of it) is involved.
Another NEW HOT topic is taking shape as well. It’s kind of a big deal, too. A new “world order” is meeting in China right now, this very week. Xi Jinping, China’s leader, is meeting with the leader of India, Modi, the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, with a guest appearance by none other than Vladimir Putin (he really gets around). Just a guess, but they are probably up to no good. A new world order? There seems to be one every week. But THIS week they are out to displace the West in everything. OK, good luck with that.
So, new HOT spots and OLD previous HOT spots are now cooling. Don’t be surprised if the old ones get hot again. Oh, one more — Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are so last week.
Bill Taylor is the CEO and Chief Market Strategist at Digital Wealth News, offering expert insights on markets and asset classes. A proud Horned Frog and Texas Christian University grad, he played college basketball while there. With a strong finance background and passion for digital innovation, Bill shares thought leadership on market trends and portfolio strategy for our audience.
