1. Moving the markets

It was a weak Wednesday with the major indexes wandering aimlessly after the release of the Fed’s Beige book showed that “economic activity grew at a slight-to-moderate pace” in March and early April. Upward pressure on wages indicated a tight labor market, however, retail and auto sales were sluggish.

Speaking of the former, U.S retailers have already closed more stores than they did all last year:

This year, US retailers have announced that 5,994 stores will close. That number already exceeds last year’s total of 5,864 closure announcements, according to a recent report from Coresight Research.

And:

“I expect store closures to accelerate in 2019, hitting some 12,000 by year end,” Deborah Weinswig, founder and CEO of Coresight, said.

This is nothing new, as we have been getting many signs that the economy has been slipping and sliding and, with GDP growth declining and Manufacturing falling, the dreaded “R-word” (as in recession) appears to be coming into focus by the Main Stream Media.

Not helping the markets today was the Healthcare sector, which took another beating, as changes to the health policy landscape appear on the horizon. Political pressure over hefty drug prices brought on new proposals from Bernie Sanders suggesting a single payer system with unknown effects on the entire industry.

In the end, the major indexes had another sluggish day and ended slightly in the red. That did not keep the Nasdaq 100 from making a new record high—in the face of tumbling earnings.

Go figure…

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1. Moving the markets

An early rally petered out as the S&P 500 slowly but surely drifted towards its unchanged line and suddenly dropped below it. However, thanks to a last minute levitation, the index managed to crawl back above it to close fractionally in the green.

The other two major indexes showed a little more staying power and remained above their respective unchanged lines throughout the session. The Nasdaq bounced around its 8,000 marker and ended up closing above it by the tiniest of margins.

Today we saw a lack of upside follow through along with little enthusiasm as earnings provided a mixed picture. Analysts have now resigned themselves to the fact that a YoY reduction in S&P 500 corporate profits for the first quarter is pretty much assured, which would mean the first decline in 3 years.

Still, we are within striking distance of taking out the 2018 highs, and I am sure that the computer algos are set to accomplish this feat—all in due time. Again, current market levels are in no way related to the strength of the underlying economy.

The direction of the economic surprise index made that very clear last year, after the spread with the S&P 500 simply widened too much, and the bears ended up having a field day.

As a result, the Fed was forced to step on the emergency brakes by doing a U-turn with their interest policy in order to “save” the markets.

Are we in for a repeat, or will we see new all-time highs first?

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[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com]

1. Moving the markets

An early drop below the unchanged lines had the major indexes on the defensive right after the opening bell. After Friday’s decent start to the earning season, Goldman Sachs and Citi Group underwhelmed with their report cards.

With these two institutions being banking powerhouses, investors were disappointed as those two were expected to provide some clarity and guidance not only for the state of the banking sector but also for the economy in general.

That did not happen as both banks reported sharp earnings declines compared to Q1 last year, but at least they managed to exceed analysts’ low profit expectations. Now the experts are afraid that Q1 2019 earnings for the S&P 500 complex may suffer “the first YoY decline in nearly three years,” due to economic headwinds appearing to accelerate.

In the end, this turned out to be a “nothing” session with nothing gained and not much lost. Looking at the big picture, we can see that it’s not the global economy that is levitating the markets, it’s the ever-accelerating money supply, as this chart clearly demonstrates.

There is a good chance that this trend will continue, thereby throwing a much-needed assist to make sure that major indexes will take out their all-time highs made in 2018.

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