Max Osbon's Posts

Liquidity Priorities The Fed continues to battle inflation by raising interest rates. We’ve had five rate rises since March 2022, from .25% to 3.25% We have two more rate hikes to go before year-end, at which point we should be at 4.5%. The Fed’s intention was to shock the system, and it’s worked for the most part in that investor…

Waiting Game The timeline for the Fed is getting clearer as we approach the end of the rate hiking cycle. We have an expected .75% hike on November 2nd, a .50% hike on December 14th and a possible but unlikely .25% hike on February 1st. After a prolonged bear market, the end of the rate hikes on the horizon is…

Treasuries Treasury yields are drawing attention now that they yield between a 2-4% risk-free rate of return. Treasury Bills (TBills) are liquid and commonly used by financial professionals, but most people are only vaguely familiar with what they are and how they work. For example, Warren Buffett keeps Berkshire Hathaway’s cash in T-Bills. We last used TBills in 2018, when…

The Fed As expected, the Fed raised rates yesterday by .75% to bring the Fed Funds rate to its highest since 2007. As of now, futures markets expect another .75% hike in November to bring the rate to 4% and a peak of 4.75% by March 2023. Commodity prices continue to fall, which will help bring down inflation numbers. Many…

Notes on Inflation Next week brings the Sept 21st Fed rate hike, which is expected to be 75bps. Former Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers has been outspoken about the reasons for a 100bps hike, namely that we need to be more aggressive because inflation changes are reacting too slowly, if at all. Either way, this next hike brings the…

The Dollar The US dollar has soared in value recently to a multi-decade peak. The Euro is at parity for the first time in twenty years and the British Pound is getting closer to parity, something that happened only once for a very brief period in the 80’s. There are big shifts happening in all markets, and the currency market…

Don’t Fight The Fed It’s an important time to practice investment patience. September brings another CPI release (Sept 13) followed by a Fed rate decision (Sept 21). The Fed has said many times they will continue to tighten until the inflation rate comes down. For now, we can get an early peek at the inflation numbers that will arrive at…

Inflation Update The next Fed rate hike on September 21 depends on inflation metrics. One place to get an early peek at inflation is in commodity markets movements: Gasoline is down -35% from its peak in June, but still up y/y. Oil is down -20% from the high in June but still up 40% over the past year. Lumber, one…

Inflation Last week we wrote about five key economic dates to keep a close eye on. The first, yesterday’s CPI inflation print, did not disappoint. Year over year, CPI inflation ticked down from 9.1% to 8.5%, and the monthly inflation was flat. About a month ago, we wrote about commodity market prices like oil, copper, wheat and corn falling roughly…