JHSC News and Press, John Hancock Multifactor Small Cap From 02/01/23

Summary The Fed raised rates by 0.25% annually at its meeting this week and indicated that further rate increases will be appropriate. But when the first question in the press conference (to paraphrase) was whether Powell was concerned whether the huge rally this year would fuel more in...

Summary The statement of the Federal Open Market Committee concerning the recent 25 basis point rise in the Fed's policy rate of interest was received fairly well in the financial markets. Still the main policy thrust by the Fed is the reduction of its securities portfolio through the p...

Summary Too many people still think that the Federal Reserve needs to continue aggressively raising rates. There's no need for aggressive hikes. Surprising the market with larger hikes would be extremely foolish and reduce the Federal Reserve's credibility. The market started ...

Summary The Fed's been tough on interest rates for some time now, and the S&P 500 and most markets haven't reacted well to the hawkish monetary stance. While the S&P 500 and most markets haven't responded well to the hawkish policy, we've seen inflation come down substantially, ...

Summary Most of the monthly short leading indicators have turned down; all but one of those which remain positive are employment-related. All of those will be updated this week, including 3 in the jobs report on Friday. Along with construction, manufacturing, and short-term unemploy...

Summary Better days are ahead for the markets in 2023, although not necessarily for the economy. The economy has not yet felt the full brunt of all of the Federal Reserve's aggressive tightening measures of 2022. Interest rates are likely to rise slightly higher, remain elevated, an...

Summary The Fed to signal an end to the interest rate hiking campaign. The economy could be in a recession already for 2023 Q1. The stock market is now more overvalued than in January of 2022. Market expectations vs the Fed's guidance The FOMC is scheduled to meet for ...

Summary The S&P 500 has broken trendline resistance and is above all its daily moving averages. The technical outlook is increasingly bullish. However, bears still have a chance and will pin their hopes on the FOMC meeting reversing the rally. Not all break-outs succeed. ...

Summary We expect a shift in the messaging towards monetary policy at the February 2nd Fed Meeting which can work as a catalyst for risk assets. The latest December PCE data showed inflation ended 2022 well below the Fed's forecast from the last FOMC. We highlight ongoing themes dur...

Summary While many have their eyes fixated on a “Magical Trendline”, the rest of world has broken above. Canada signalled a PAUSE at its current rate while the Bank assesses the full impact (lagged effect) of its hikes. AAII Sentiment Survey result, Bullish Percent tic...