Inflation slows, yields peak, the market pops, and fizzles into the holiday. – C.J. Lawrence – Market Commentary – 12/19/22

As we prepare for the holiday, the market looks like stale Champagne. There was an initial 900-point pop in the DOW on the better inflation number for November (CPI) at 7.1%. Markets were ready to pop the cork and declare inflation dead. That quickly fizzled when Fed Chair Jay Powell delivered anoth...
Read More

Fed blinks; Inflation cools; America votes; China buys vaccines; Crypto implodes; Putin retreats. – C.J. Lawrence Market Commentary 11/11/2022

Turning to the September inflation report, headline CPI year-on-year for September was down slightly at 8.2%, in line with the previous three declines.  The all-important core inflation which excludes food and energy was unfortunately up again....
Read More

C.J. Lawrence Weekly – The U.S. Consumer Remains Healthy, While the Gap Between Sector Winners and Losers is Widening

The U.S. consumer is healthy and living within his/her means and that should be positive for consumer related stocks. But wide gaps are forming between those with cutting edge business models and those without. Passive investors in the sector may wind up with average returns, while active investor...
Read More

C.J. Lawrence Weekly – Trade Stand-Off May Lead to Long Term Gain, Short Term Pain. Overweight Communications Services

We’ve written previously about the longer-term impact of the trade war on sourcing and manufacturing decisions, and our belief that one of the stand-off outcomes will be the re-shoring of manufacturing capacity back to the U.S. over the next several years. But in the meantime, the global economy ...
Read More

C.J. Lawrence Weekly – Regardless of Outcome, the U.S.-China Trade Dispute May Accelerate the U.S. Manufacturing Renaissance

Editor’s Note: A month ago we wrote about growing unease among U.S. businesses operating in China.  We are recirculating that note this afternoon as trade tensions between the U.S. and China reach a new level.  The imposition of tariffs on Chinese imports by the U.S., retaliatory tariffs on ...
Read More

C.J. Lawrence Weekly – Regardless of Outcome, the U.S.-China Trade Dispute May Accelerate the U.S. Manufacturing Renaissance

But the U.S., which has been undergoing its own industrial and manufacturing renaissance, catalyzed by the evolution of low-cost energy production and availability, is poised to gain its fair share of global industrial growth and new opportunities created by “reshoring” initiatives. Low cost en...
Read More