FTSD News and Press, Franklin Liberty Short Duration U.S. Government From 07/25/23

2023-07-25 21:10:00 ET Summary The June M2 number was released today and it was unremarkable. ear over year M2 growth is running at about a -4% rate, while M2 has been relatively flat over the past three months. It continues to amaze me that only a handful of Fed watchers pay ...

2023-07-25 00:52:00 ET Summary Why markets may continue to rally but at a slower pace. The U.S. economy continues to send mixed signals to investors. Why we may be in an earnings recession. Equity markets have performed better than expected so far this year. But ca...

2023-07-24 05:37:00 ET Summary Markets assume that a 25 bps rate increase at the FOMC’s meeting next Wednesday will wrap up the Fed’s tightening cycle. The S&P 500 increased 0.7% (up 18.1% y-t-d), and the Dow jumped 2.1% (up 6.3%). Federal Reserve Credit decl...

2023-07-21 08:00:00 ET Summary The cyclical "inflation" up-swings and down-swings should become evident in commodity prices first and consumer prices last. While this price deflation could be viewed as a positive by those who are not within the ranks of the directly affected produ...

2023-07-19 21:37:00 ET Summary Strong equity returns in recent months reflect a shift in market focus towards the AI theme, earnings, and growth potential over the inflation and rates narrative. Market pricing is currently most aligned with a soft-landing economic scenario. Altern...

2023-07-19 21:05:00 ET Summary More good news on the inflation front: the Consumer Price Index (CPI) grew by only 0.2 percent in June. That corresponds to a 2.2 percent continuously compounded annual inflation rate, which is less than the 3.0 percent average rate over the last 12 ...

2023-07-19 08:30:00 ET Summary Inflation is not over, and the Federal Reserve will tighten again, despite the latest Consumer Price Index reading. Housing costs made up the largest portion of the latest CPI increase, and the optimists note that both rents and home prices have stop...

2023-07-19 05:04:00 ET Summary There is about an 18-month lag between changes in home prices and changes in the Owners' Equivalent Rent component of the CPI. The Fed needs to realize this now, and at the very least make it clear at next week's FOMC meeting that it plans no further...

2023-07-18 09:35:00 ET Summary The Consumer Price Index rose just 0.2% in June - and only 3% in the past 12 months - very close to the Fed’s 2% goal. Producer Price Index provided even better news, as it rose only 0.1% in June, the slowest rate in almost three years. Treasu...

2023-07-18 06:30:00 ET Summary Inflation dominated the headlines and there was widespread consensus among economists that a recession was imminent. The Fed has raised the Fed Funds rate multiple times this year, but those rate increases have clearly done nothing to slow the econom...