The DC Today - Thursday, December 14, 2023

Today's Post - https://bahnsen.co/4aigyM6

Well, and there you have it – coming out of a global pandemic where the world shut down and reopened and supply chain disruption and pent-up demand caused 9% inflation, the Fed raised rates 525bps in one year, inflation fell back down without rising unemployment, the economy still grew, and as of yesterday, the Dow closed at an all-time high. I really don’t think, in all humility, there was anyone out there (including yours truly) that would have predicted all that. Now, there is still more time to go before I think you can officially fly the soft landing flags, but we are getting close after yesterday’s Fed meeting and statements.

Adding to that narrative, we had some encouraging retail sales and jobless claims data today that had markets higher again. Also, the good ole three handle 10yr is back! We closed below 4% today down another 11 bps at 3.91% on 10’s for the day. Does all this sound too good to be true? I assure you there are still plenty of things in the world to worry about, but my sense at this point, with a dearth of large economic data coming out before the year-end, is that we will head into the holidays feeling a little more merrier than we did last year. =)

Links mentioned in this episode: TheDCToday.com DividendCafe.com TheBahnsenGroup.com