Merriman Market Analyst

Free Weekly Forecast

MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING JUNE 24, 2024 ©

June 21, 2024

Listen on Spotify, Apple, and Amazon Watch on YouTube  Review  Wall Street’s climb to record highs has come with conspicuously little volatility. The S&P 500 has gone 377 days without a 2.05% sell-off. That’s the longest stretch for the benchmark since the great financial crisis, according to FactSet data compiled by CNBC. The index...

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MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING JUNE 17, 2024 ©

June 14, 2024

Review  Google Trends is reporting an astonishing spike in searches for “petrodollars.” This is apparently because of a viral story that on 9 June, Saudi Arabia failed to renew a secret 50-year deal with the US to keep oil priced in dollars. Oil has always traded in non-dollar currencies….Saudi Arabia’s...

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MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING JUNE 10, 2024 ©

June 7, 2024

Review  U.S. job growth burst past expectations last month while the unemployment rate edged up to 4%, presenting a mixed view of a labor market that has generally been cooling without overly troubling most workers. Total nonfarm U.S. jobs increased a seasonally adjusted 272,000 jobs in May, more than in April...

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MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING JUNE 3, 2024 ©

May 31, 2024

Review  A late-afternoon rally lifted the Dow industrials and S&P 500 to daily gains after the Friday morning release of the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. The personal-consumption expenditures price index rose 2.7% in April from a year ago, in line with economist expectations. — Patricia Kowsmann and Ryan Dezember, “S&P...

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MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING MAY 27, 2024 ©

May 24, 2024

NOTE: Monday, May 27, is Memorial Day in the U.S., a holiday when the nation honors its warriors, those who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Markets will be closed in the U.S.  Review  “Attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only...

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MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING MAY 20, 2024 ©

May 17, 2024

Review  Inflation eased slightly in April, providing at least a bit of relief for consumers while still holding above levels that would suggest a cut in interest rates is imminent. The consumer price index increased 0.3% from March, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. That was slightly...

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MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING MAY 13, 2024 ©

May 10, 2024

Review The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Friday, wrapping an eighth consecutive winning session and registering its best week of 2024…. Investor enthusiasm was kept in check after consumer sentiment data released Friday morning showed a big uptick in inflation expectations. The preliminary May reading for the University of...

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MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING MAY 6, 2024 ©

May 3, 2024

-Review  Stocks jumped sharply Friday after a softer-than-expected April jobs report boosted hopes that the Federal Reserve could start cutting interest rates soon. Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report showed 175,000 jobs gained in April, below the 240,000 jobs expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The unemployment rate edged up to...

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MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING APRIL 29, 2024 ©

April 28, 2024

Review:  Inflation-adjusted gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 1.6% in the first quarter, according to an initial estimate the Bureau of Economic Analysis released Thursday. That was below the 2.2% growth that economists surveyed by FactSet had expected…. Thursday’s slower-than-expected growth could signal that the U.S. economy...

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MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING APRIL 29, 2024 ©

April 28, 2024

Review:  Inflation-adjusted gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 1.6% in the first quarter, according to an initial estimate the Bureau of Economic Analysis released Thursday. That was below the 2.2% growth that economists surveyed by FactSet had expected…. Thursday’s slower-than-expected growth could signal that the U.S. economy...

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