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When Doves Fly

Bad news for stocks if the Fed cuts...

WISE GUYS trading Fed Funds futures see no more rate hikes in 2019, writes Gary Tanashian in his Notes from the Rabbit Hole.

A few even imagine a rate cut before year-end.

Projections for the next 3 meetings show an overwhelming view that the Fed will hold the current 225-250 target rate.

Among other misconceptions promoted in the media about financial markets is the idea that it is bearish when the Fed is raising the funds rate. That is not the case.

The Fed raises the funds rate against positive economic activity and/or inflationary activity. And in the age of Inflation onDemand, one is – in my opinion – not much different than the other.

Okay, that's just a daily chart showing that the funds rate (represented here by the 3 month T-Bill yield, IRX) and S&P500 went in unison to the upside and that the IRX then began rolling with the market's post-September problems.

But what of the longer-term relationship?

If the post-2015 relationship between financial markets and Fed policy is to hold true, it is very significant that projections of a dovish Fed are in play.

From 2008 to 2015 the Bernanke Fed (plus one year of Yellen) blighted financial markets, inflicting the ZIRP abomination as asset owners (including owners of stock certificates) were enriched while the real economy was drained (real savings is a necessary component of a real economy). Before and after the ZIRP era, the Fed Funds rate was positively correlated to stocks.

It is no secret that I dislike, distrust and have little faith in the man named Donald Trump. But taken at face value, the type of policy he has overlaid on top of Bernanke's blight has been more honest.

That is because it is political, fought for and debated every step of the way. The Fed's ZIRP era policy (incl. QEs 1-3) was veiled, hidden behind a curtain. It is logical that the Funds rate (and IRX) have resumed positive correlation with SPX.

Bernanke was regarded as a hero who saved the global economy...

...but in reality he was a little more than a Wizard of Wall Street hiding behind a curtain, pulling levers, perhaps meaning well but ultimately bringing more tears to more people than the relative few that were enriched by his policy.

Had Trump not had the misfortune of following such balls out, seemingly interminable monetary policy, his fiscal efforts – assuming his pathology would not get in the way of those efforts – might one day be looked back upon as heroic.

Those Main Streeters that were punished relentlessly by the Bernanke Fed – in service to the enrichment of the elite (there's a little populist lingo for ya) – finally had enough, clicking their Ruby Slippers and summoning Trump to bring them back home.

The problem is, we have not yet resolved the distortions from the ZIRP years and if the Fed really is going dovish, that resolution may be dead ahead.

Gary Tanashian successfully owned and operated a progressive medical component manufacturing company for 21 years, through various economic cycles. This experience gave Gary an understanding of and appreciation for global macroeconomics as it relates to individual markets and sectors. Along the way, Gary developed an almost geek-like interest in technical analysis (TA), to add to a long-time interest in human psychology. Various unique macro market ratio indicators were also added to the mix, with the result being a financial market newsletter, Notes From the Rabbit Hole (NFTRH) that combines these attributes.

See the full archive of Gary Tanashian.

Please Note: All articles published here are to inform your thinking, not lead it. Only you can decide the best place for your money, and any decision you make will put your money at risk. Information or data included here may have already been overtaken by events – and must be verified elsewhere – should you choose to act on it. Please review our Terms & Conditions for accessing Gold News.

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