Morning Report: Inflation rises 2/15/18

Posted on February 15, 2018 by Brent Nyitray

Vital Statistics:

Last Change
S&P Futures 2707.0 10.3
Eurostoxx Index 377.0 2.5
Oil (WTI) 60.4 -0.2
US dollar index 82.9 -0.2
10 Year Govt Bond Yield 2.90%
Current Coupon Fannie Mae TBA 103.591
Current Coupon Ginnie Mae TBA 103.688
30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage 4.44

Stocks are higher this morning on no real news. Bonds and MBS are flat.

Inflation at the wholesale level came in higher than expected as the Producer Price Index rose 0.4% MOM and 2.7% YOY. Ex-food and energy, the index was up 0.4% / 2.2% and the core rate was up 0.4% / 2.5%. The US dollar is weaker on the data, which adds to inflationary pressures. I suspect at some point dollar weakness will feed higher rates, but we aren’t there yet. Treasuries look like they want to test the 3% level we reached after the taper tantrum. The 10 year yield hit 2.94% overnight, so we aren’t all that far away. Goldman is forecasting 3.5% on the 10 year within the next 6 months on monetary tightening. Other strategists are raising their forecast for Fed tightenings as well, based on the additional stimulus of the budget deal and tax cuts.

FWIW, after the inflation data, the Fed Funds futures are now predicting a 83% chance of a hike at the March meeting, and sentiment is coalescing for a total of 3 hikes this year, to take the Fed Funds rate to 2.0% – 2.25%.

In other economic data, Initial Jobless Claims rose to 230k last week, while the Philly Fed rebounded to 25.8. The Empire State Manufacturing survey slipped. Industrial Production fell a tenth of a percent while Manufacturing Production was flat. Capacity Utilization fell 20 basis points to 77.5%. So, between the higher than expected inflation data and weaker manufacturing data, bonds are pretty much flattish.

Donald Trumps proposed 2019 budget contemplated an 18% cut in HUD’s budget, with the cuts largely coming from the end of the Community Development Block Grant program. At the end of the day, this budget is a messaging document and has 0% chance of becoming law as-is.

Builder Sentiment was flat in February according to the NAHB.

Filed under: Economy, Morning Report |

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16 Responses

  1. markinaustin, on February 15, 2018 at 10:22 am said:

    No wage inflation broken out in the report?
    ———————————————-

    News you might have missed during the Winter Olympics and DACA and Porter:

    Crestline woman says she saw Sasquatches in Lake Arrowhead, sues state to get species recognized

    I am fascinated with how this litigation will proceed under tight rules of evidence regarding “junk science”.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. jnc4p, on February 15, 2018 at 1:28 pm said:

    I think we may have reached peak Russia hysteria:

    “Russia used mainstream media to manipulate American voters
    By Craig Timberg
    February 15 at 10:50 AM”

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/russia-used-mainstream-media-to-manipulate-american-voters/2018/02/15/85f7914e-11a7-11e8-9065-e55346f6de81_story.html

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. Brent Nyitray, on February 15, 2018 at 2:56 pm said:

    Is that a shotgun in your pants or are you just happy to see me?

    Like

    Reply
  5. Let the mutherfuker burn!, on February 15, 2018 at 3:27 pm said:

    Once again, the comments are fascinating. Two points that are constantly repeated are that the only motivation to change the current immigration system is racism, full stop. The other issue is that there is no deal Trump would sign.

    One thing I see that also interests me is the beleif that Trump keeps changing his mind and/or won’t say what he will accept. That’s patently false in this instance and secondly, when Trump won’t explicitly say what he wants, it’s more a negotiating tactic, as is, the first person to speak, loses. He talks about it in his book for anybody to see.

    https://m.dailykos.com/stories/1741662

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