Friday, 6 December 2024

The Goldilocks job report

How it might affect your pocketbook
 
   
     
   
 
DECEMBER 6, 2024
   

Hey y’all, 

It’s Friday! You made it! Congratulations!

The markets are moving higher this morning (it’s about noon ET as I write this) thanks to a jobs report that Yahoo News describes as “Goldilocks”: 

“Strong enough to dampen concerns about the economy but soft enough to keep the Fed's options open on lowering rates this month and into next year.”

That puts all eyes on the Federal Reserve, set to meet in about two weeks (the 17th and 18th of the month) to announce their next interest rate. 

According to the CME, 88.8% of investors right now are pricing in a 0.25 basis point rate cut from current levels.

 
 

Now, there’s a fair question about whether it’s time to cut rates again or not.

Alberto Musalem, the Federal Reserve President in my hometown, St. Louis, says the risk of cutting “too much, too soon” is greater than the risk of waiting too long.

But this morning’s jobs report should give Chairman Powell and his cohort the ammunition they need to justify another modest cut.

I’ll say two things:

As a self-interested recent homebuyer, by all means, please cut the interest rate down to zero so I can refinance! 🤣🤣

 
 

But I want to say one thing to Jerome Powell’s credit — which is not something I’ve historically been too concerned about:

Right now, the economic feelings overall seem to be shifting from apprehension to excitement.

Whether that’s a result of changing circumstances, new political realities, or what — it’s hard to say.

But if Powell and the Fed do achieve a soft landing with the hand they were dealt, they deserve some credit — maybe not a lot, but some.

It’s always tough to say how much control the Central Bank has. 

Their soft power is enormous, and their policy options seem massive, but it would be very hard to sort out what impact they actually had, vs. what circumstances would have occurred, anyway.

But we’ll know more come the 18th…

For my part, I expect a small rate cut and I expect the markets to continue moving positively for now.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

To your prosperity,

Stephen Ground
Editor-in-Chief, ProsperityPub


P.S.: I had a ton of fun helping Geof Smith put together a presentation on his brand new income trade, targeting incredible weekly payouts on one of the most stable assets in the world. Check out his new research here

 
   
 

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