Bespoke’s Morning Lineup – 12/23/24 – The Nightmare Before Christmas
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“A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated.” – Woodrow Wilson
Below is a snippet of commentary from today’s Morning Lineup. Start a two-week trial to Bespoke Premium to view the full report.
After days like last Wednesday, finding critics of the Federal Reserve isn’t hard. If you’re one of those critics, you can thank President Woodrow Wilson as he signed the Federal Reserve Act into law 111 years ago today. Even President Wilson later came to regret signing the bill into law with quotes like the one above. Hating on the Fed has been around almost as long as the Fed has been around!
With just a session and a half until the Christmas holiday, futures are in the holiday mood with a little red and a little green this morning; Dow futures are indicated modestly lower while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are marginally higher. In fixed income, Treasury yields are modestly higher across the curve with larger gains at the long end as the 10-year yield has moved up to 4.56% while commodities are generally lower. Bitcoin prices are modestly higher, but at just below $96K is over 10% from its record high about a week ago.
The nightmare before Christmas ended (at least temporarily) last Friday as the S&P 500 equal weight index finally had a day where it closed the day higher than it opened and overall breadth in the S&P 500 was positive. The reversal also came at a critical point. The chart below of the S&P 500 equal weight ETF (RSP) shows how after last week’s Fed meeting, the index broke below short-term support that had been in place since Labor Day and moved into ‘extreme’ oversold territory for the first time in over a year. Friday’s rally arrested that breakdown, but to hold that support, we’ll need to see some follow-through in the days ahead.
Brunch Reads – 12/22/24
Welcome to Bespoke Brunch Reads — a linkfest of some of our favorite articles over the past week. The links are mostly market-related, but there are some other interesting subjects covered as well. We hope you enjoy the food for thought as a supplement to the research we provide you during the week.
“Shoe Bomber” Richard Reid’s Terror Plot Thwarted: Richard Reid, known as the “Shoe Bomber,” is a British national who attempted to destroy American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami on December 22, 2001. Reid had explosives concealed in the soles of his shoes, planning to ignite them during the flight. However, his attempt was thwarted when passengers and crew noticed his behavior and the smell of smoke on the aircraft. They managed to subdue him before he could successfully detonate the explosives. The flight was diverted to Boston’s Logan International Airport, where Reid was arrested. He later pled guilty to terrorism-related charges and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. In the 23 years that have passed since, how many pairs of shoes do you think have been removed at TSA checkpoints around the world.
Sports
‘Oh, s—, here come all the billionaires’: How SMU came back from the dead (ESPN)
SMU, once a powerhouse in college football, fell from grace in the 1980s and received the ‘death penalty’ getting shut down for two seasons due to NCAA violations. In recent years, SMU has experienced a remarkable resurgence, fueled by wealthy boosters and a renewed commitment to success. The influx of NIL funds and the backing of deep-pocketed donors, coupled with joining the ACC, have allowed SMU to compete financially and athletically at a higher level. The university’s leadership, including the board of directors and the coaching staff, has been instrumental in driving the program’s revival. [Link]
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Bespoke’s Morning Lineup – 12/20/24 – December of Discontent
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“It’s so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.” – John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent
Below is a snippet of commentary from today’s Morning Lineup. Start a two-week trial to Bespoke Premium to view the full report.
It doesn’t officially start until tomorrow, but already it has been a December of discontent for bulls as breadth has been negative for a record 14 straight trading days and looks likely to extend that streak to 15. This kind of consistent broad weakness is unprecedented, and it’s reflected in the performance of the eleven sector ETFs and where they’re trading relative to their short-term trading ranges. Every one of them is down at least 2% in the last five trading days, and three have dropped at least 6%. Just two sectors headed into today above their 50-day moving averages, and seven have dropped into oversold territory, including six in ‘extreme’ oversold territory (more than two standard deviations below their 50-DMAs).
