The markets had to chew on a lot of events and new data this week.
Before the week even got started, the outbreak of war in Israel added a new level of uncertainty about oil prices and dropping Treasury yields.
The Producer Price Index (PPI) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data came in a little – but just a little – higher than expected.
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Throughout the week, Congress continued to show why so few people have any faith in the government … we still have no Speaker of the House.
And China is now looking at a serious threat of deflation – underscoring how weak their economy has become.
Despite all that, we were looking at a four-day winning streak in the market before a lackluster Treasury Bond auction sent the market back down Thursday.
What are investors to make of all this?
Luckily, Senior Investment Analyst Luke Lango was in Baltimore this week, so I had the opportunity to get his views on what is coming next.
You can see the short video (less than 5 minutes) by clicking on the play button below.
Despite all the uncertainty, Louis Navellier believes the Fed is done raising rates
In an update to his subscribers, Louis stated that the recent dovish statements from Fed members increases his confidence we will not have to deal with continued interest rate increases.
The fact is that a few outspoken Fed officials provided very dovish comments this week. As an example, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic stated that the Fed doesn’t need to raise rates again, and even noted that the Fed has historically lowered key interest rates in the wake of escalating geopolitical risks like the conflict currently in Israel.
I should also add that the FOMC meeting minutes revealed that there remains dissension among Fed officials whether further rate hikes are necessary. Some members feel another rate hike is appropriate and others don’t think further increases are warranted. And Fed Chairman Jerome Powell hates dissension. So, when you add it all up, the Fed is done raising rates.
Louis believes his stocks are going to have a great earnings season. His quantitative stock picking system has always focused on fundamentals – and that puts a lot of weight behind the stocks that are set for upside surprises every earnings season.
In a nutshell, Louis analyzes stocks to see which have been able to beat earnings estimates and by how much. This is an important factor that tells him whether Wall Street isn’t paying much attention to a quality stock.