March 18, 2022

Markets:

U.S. stock futures fell Friday morning to give back some gains after a three-day winning streak. However, the major equity indexes still headed for weekly advances as traders took favorably the Federal Reserve's measured first move on raising interest rates.

For U.S. equity investors broadly, news this week that the Fed opted for a 25 basis point rate hike and charted out a route toward six additional rate hikes later this year helped provide clarity on the future monetary policy path and removed an overhang of uncertainty. The size of the interest rate hike was taken as a carefully considered first move, beginning the process of addressing inflation while avoiding delivering a major shock to markets already weighing Russia's war in Ukraine.

St. Louis Fed President Jim Bullard said Friday that he wanted the Federal Reserve to more swiftly raise interest rates and begin the process of reducing its nearly $9 trillion balance sheet in order to bring down inflation.

Bullard was the only member of the Federal Open Market Committee to dissent with the Fed's decision this week to raise interest rates by 25 basis points. Instead, Bullard wanted the Fed to raise by 50 basis points and also implement a plan to reduce the balance sheet.

Bullard said that in his dot on the "dot plot," or Fed's Summary of Economic Projections, he saw the Fed raising rates to above 3% this year.

Portfolio:

We enter todays session holding four positions; EVH, YEXT, JEF, and itrm.  Next week should be a wonderful week of trading with further insight into the Fed being passed.  Please be on alert today.  We want to be patient here but will attack a quick trade opportunity should one materialize.