June 23, 2022

Markets:

Stock futures rose on Thursday, as the market tried recover some of the steep losses suffered in 2022, even as Wall Street continued to weigh recession risks.

The major averages came into Thursday’s session posting strong gains for the week. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are up more than 2% in that time, while the Dow has risen nearly 2%.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak on monetary policy for a second day Thursday with congressional lawmakers. On Wednesday, Powell said the central bank is “strongly committed” to bringing down inflation. He also noted that a recession is a “possibility,” a fear that has continued to weigh on Wall Street.

Citigroup increased its odds of a recession to 50%, citing a slide in consumer demand that could make it more difficult for the Federal Reserve to achieve a soft landing.

Goldman Sachs said the probability of a downturn is “higher and more front-loaded” than it was previously. In a Monday note, the firm raised its bet of a U.S. recession to 30%, up from 15%, over the next year. It increased those odds to 48%, up from 35%, over the next two years.

On Thursday, investors will be looking forward to fresh jobless claims data. Powell will also give remarks to the House, after having addressed the Senate Wednesday. The remarks are part of a congressionally mandated semiannual report on monetary policy.

Portfolio:

We enter the new trading session holding positions in APPS, ALLY, and holding ITRM. Very nice session for us yesterday! We will be looking to add a new opportunity or two today based on queue activity we continue to see. As we've been stating since last week, careful with the price action as we head into end of quarter / month end. Lot's of rebalancing occurring and now necessarily true price action. Let's have a have great session.