March 3, 2022

Markets:

Stock futures pointed to a slightly lower open Thursday morning after rallying a day earlier, as concerns over rising energy prices and Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine weighing on risk assets.

Investor focus turned to Powell's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, during which the Fed chief said explicitly that he would back a quarter-point interest rate hike following the Fed's March meeting later this month. Powell left open the possibility that the Fed would raise interest rates and tighten more aggressively later this year, however, given the current, persistent inflationary pressures rippling across an otherwise solid U.S. economy.

U.S. crude oil prices jumped above $116 per barrel on Wednesday to reach a more than decade high, as investors monitored the potential energy-market fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And meanwhile Brent crude — the international standard — rocketed further to near $120 per barrel.

And other data on the U.S. economy have pointed to a tight labor market, suggesting rising wages will also remain an ongoing contributor to inflation. ADP said Wednesday that U.S. private-sector payrolls grew by 475,000 in February, or well above the 375,000 jobs expected, following a jump of more than half a million jobs in January. The Labor Department's official February jobs is due for release Friday morning, and is expected to show a 5.8% annual increase in average hourly earnings.

Portfolio:

We enter todays session holding positions in SOFI, ACH, PENN, and ITRM. 

Queue is igniting but we want to remain as patient as possible as we work through a few market barriers right now.  Let's have a great session and continue this strong start to 2022!