Stock World Weekly: No Easy Way Out
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Here's the latest Stock World Weekly: No Easy Way Out. Enjoy!
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Excerpt:
Inflation continues to be a major problem around the globe. Food price inflation has been one of the primary triggers for the protests and riots across the Middle East and North Africa. China has been struggling with rampant inflation for months now. And price inflation has been cited as one of the primary complaints among participants in this week’s massive protests in Spain.
Inflation is also causing problems closer to home. The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) released a report on May 19 showing that seniors have lost almost one-third of their buying power since 2000, according to the Annual Survey of Senior Costs. “In most years, seniors receive a small increase in their Social Security checks, intended to help them keep up with the costs of inflation. But since 2000, the Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) has increased just 31 percent, while typical senior expenses have jumped 73 percent, more than twice as fast.” (Seniors Have Lost 32 Percent of Their Buying Power Since 2000)
Lee Adler discussed last week’s market action and the impending end of QE2: “The markets responded as expected to this week’s light Treasury supply, which included a hefty paydown on Thursday along with the usual dose of POMO. Stocks sold off Monday under the pressure of settling $72 billion in new notes and bonds, but then they recovered as POMO and $10 billion in Treasury paydowns put cash back in the pockets of the market’s movers and shakers. As usual, they deployed some of it into stocks.
“However, there was a fly in the ointment of this week’s light Treasury schedule. The evidence suggests that the foreign central banks ran away from the auctions. If this is the reversal of their short term buying cycle, it should depress the performance of the markets in the weeks ahead...
“The supply bogeyman will return at the end of the month, with $61 billion of new notes and TIPS settling on May 31. That will be an interesting challenge for the market. Once again, how that is handled should give us a preview of things to come when the Fed’s POMO pause begins in July. I have a hunch it won’t be pretty. (Lee Adler at Wall Street Examiner, “What goes around, comes around”)
Commenting on Friday’s weak market behavior, Lee wrote, “Friday was an interesting day, but for bears to take control there must be follow through... The market now sits right on a major trendline. If it is decisively broken, a bigger decline could lie ahead after the end of POMO. POMO should still allow for an intermittent bid to prop the market for the next 5-6 weeks. Then it’s on its own for awhile. That should be ugly.” (Lee Adler's Wall Street Examiner)
Excerpt from the SWW: No Easy Way Out (Week Ahead section)
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