QQXT News and Press, First Trust NASDAQ-100 Ex-Tech Sector Index Fd From 02/03/23

Summary Jobless claims continue to impress with the latest reading on seasonally adjusted initial claims dropping to 183K which is the lowest level since April 2022. While NSA claims were lower this week, it was not by much with the reading falling from 225.23K to just 224.36K. As f...

Summary January’s US index returns represented a complete inversion of 2022’s performance. International markets also started out the year with a strong rally - outperforming the S&P 500. The yield curve became more inverted in January, signaling potentially reduce...

Summary The 2021-2022 episode turned out to be very different from the economic turmoil that bedeviled the U.S. economy from the 1960s into the early 1980s. Changes in relative prices can be either the result of changes in the average price level, or the cause of such changes. The o...

Summary The leading indicators related to the labor market are deteriorating, signaling an imminent recession. Wage growth remains the key inflationary data point to follow. The stock market is not priced for the likely recession. An imminent recession The record inver...

Summary A big contributing factor to the surge in inflation was the spike in consumer spending. Healthy GDP growth, generationally low unemployment, and relatively stable earnings all point to a stable economy. While the future always remains unclear, nobody knows for certain whethe...

Summary It’s notable that the strongest January for the index since 2001 only took momentum back up to test that broken support level from below. Bulls better “hope” the current rally continues, taking momentum back into the bull market range that existed from 2010 ...

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 The massive fiscal expansion during COVID and the Fed’s accommodation of that spending via QE is what caused the spike in prices over the last 18 months. Spending fell back and has essentially been trending sideways since. Credit spreads are still below average and in...

Summary The Fed's inflation fighting credibility is really on the line this year. The peak in inflation was mid-2022, and it's fallen a lot in the last six months and likely to keep falling. The long end of the yield curve is held in check to some extent by the Fed's stubbornness at...