Two steps forward, one step back, yet equities still up 1% for the week. Friday's March PCE important.

VIDEO: This has been a challenging week for markets, but the overall message to us is companies are delivering strong earnings and investors are still wary that inflation might be accelerating. We get a better answer with April CPI in a few weeks. 

Please click below to view our Macro Minute (duration: 4:45)

This may surprise many investors, but the S&P 500 is actually up +1% for the week. After weeks of downward pressure, and the selling seen on Wednesday and Thursday, the tape feels “heavier” than a +1% week. This coming Friday is the release of March Core PCE deflator (Fed’s preferred measure of inflation) and the Street is looking for +0.29% MoM.

• A lot of wariness and fear is likely baked into market expectations ahead of Friday’s release of PCE (8:30am ET). Why do we suggest this?
  – Thursday’s release of 1Q24 GDP saw a sharp rise in rates and a decline in equities
  – 1Q24 Core PCE Price Index YoY came in at +2.9%, higher than expected for March YoY +2.7%
  – But as we know, the key question is how much is due to Jan/Feb revisions
• Our Head of Data Science, “tireless Ken,” expects core PCE deflator of +0.30%, just a touch above consensus. Is a “hot reading” going to tank markets Friday? At first glance, that is what many expect:
  – but pessimism has soared, even evidenced by negative % net bulls of AAII
  – while META 0.02%  results caused a decline, GOOG 1.06%  and MSFT 0.60%  report after the close Thu
  – Mark Newton sees cycles turning higher, particularly after Thu
  – multiple factors suggest a 2% rally is not enough to work off oversold conditions
• So, we think there is a scenario where March Core PCE is worse (“hotter”) at +0.30% or higher, but this has been discounted. Earlier in the week, we noted that hedge fund short interest of the median stock is the highest since 2022 (per Goldman Sachs) and hedge fund weekly increase in ETF shorts is the highest since 2022. Post March CPI and PPI, investors have been leaning negative on the “inflation is cooling” thesis.
• The first 3 inflation reports of 2024 show inflation has been higher than in the last 3 months of 2023. The broader question is whether inflation is actually accelerating. In our view, we think inflation has been tracking better than the CPI/PCE reports imply:
  – U Mich 1-yr inflation expectations are muted at 3.1% and below 20-year avg at 3.2% or 40-year average of 3.6%. We get April Final on Friday at 10am ET.
  – 1Q24 conference calls see lowest reference to “inflation is a problem” since 1Q21. No sign accelerating
  – Median Core CPI component inflation is 1.76% YoY, below the long-term average of 2.4%
• As we noted multiple times, the higher inflation of Core CPI is primarily due to shelter remaining high (but statistically lagging) and the soaring of auto insurance premiums.
• But this does not neutralize the fact that equity markets have become a “two step forward, one step back” market. In a way, this is expected. This is the technical pattern Mark Newton, Fundstrat’s Head of Technical Strategy, expected coming into this week. That is because he believes the market established the “internal low” last week, but this means it will take time for markets to regain a sustained positive footing. (Please review our previous notes this week for the multiple factors supporting why we see last week’s low as likely the low for this downcycle.)

Bottom line: We are buying dips and expect stocks resiliency to strengthen in coming weeks

The turmoil of the past few weeks has emboldened the skeptics and bearish views of equities. This is completely understandable. But this does not mean the path for equities into year-end has changed. We remain constructive and see S&P 500 exceeding 5,200 by year-end.

• For now, equities have suffered losses and this undermined confidence, so this means stocks can be volatile
• We also do not think a rotation has commenced. We still prefer to remain cyclical, favoring:
  – AI and AI-related
  – Ozempic related stocks
  – Industrials/Financials on the upturn in ISM
  – Small-caps on dovish Fed
  – Bitcoin and proxies
• While this has been a tough 2 weeks for that view, we think incoming macro data will be supportive of a softening of inflation. This is, in turn, supportive of equities.

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Key incoming data April:

• 4/01 9:45 am ET: Mar F S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Tame
• 4/01 10:00 am ET: Mar ISM Manufacturing Mixed
• 4/02 10:00 am ET: Feb JOLTS Job Openings Tame
• 4/03 9:45 am ET: Mar F S&P Global Services PMI Tame
• 4/03 10:00 am ET: Mar ISM Services Tame
• 4/05 8:30 am ET: Mar Jobs Report Hot
• 4/05 9:00 am ET: Mar F Manheim Used Vehicle Index Tame
• 4/10 8:30 am ET: Mar CPI Hot
• 4/10 2pm ET: Mar FOMC Meeting Minutes Tame
• 4/11 8:30 am ET: Mar PPI Tame
• 4/12 10:00 am ET: Apr P U. Mich. Sentiment and Inflation Expectation Tame
• 4/15 8:30 am ET: Apr Empire Manufacturing Survey Tame
• 4/15 8:30 am ET: Mar Retail Sales Data Mixed
• 4/15 10:00 am ET: Apr NAHB Housing Market Index Tame
• 4/16 8:30 am ET: Apr New York Fed Business Activity Survey Tame
• 4/17 9:00 am ET: Apr Mid-Month Manheim Used Vehicle Index Tame
• 4/17 2:00 pm ET: Fed Releases Beige Book Tame
• 4/18 8:30 am ET: Apr Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey Tame
• 4/22 8:30 am ET: Mar Chicago Fed Nat Activity Survey Tame
• 4/23 9:45 am ET: Apr P S&P Global PMI Tame
• 4/25 8:30 am ET: 1QA 2024 GDP Tame
• 4/26 8:30 am ET: Mar PCE
• 4/29 10:30 am ET: Apr Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity Survey
• 4/30 9:00 am ET: Feb S&P CoreLogic CS home price
• 4/30 10:00 am ET: Apr Conference Board Consumer Confidence
• 4/30 10:00 am ET: Apr F U. Mich. Sentiment and Inflation Expectation

Key incoming data March:

• 3/01 9:45 am ET: Feb F S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Tame
• 3/01 10:00 am ET: Feb ISM Manufacturing Tame
• 3/01 10:00 am ET: Feb F U. Mich. Sentiment and Inflation Expectation Tame
• 3/05 9:45 am ET: Feb F S&P Global Services & Composite PMI Tame
• 3/05 10:00 am ET: Feb ISM Services Tame
• 3/06 10:00 am ET: Powell Testimony before US House Financial Services Committee Dovish
• 3/06 10:00 am ET: Jan JOLTS Job Openings Tame
• 3/06 2:00 pm ET: Fed Releases Beige Book Tame
• 3/07 8:30 am ET: 4QF 2023 Nonfarm Productivity Tame
• 3/07 9:00 am ET: Feb F Manheim Used Vehicle Index Tame
• 3/07 10:00 am ET: Powell Testimony before US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Dovish
• 3/08 8:30 am ET: Feb Jobs Report Mixed
• 3/12 8:30 am ET: Feb CPI Slightly Hot (as anticipated)
• 3/14 8:30 am ET: Feb PPI Mixed
• 3/14 8:30 am ET: Feb Retail Sales Data Tame
• 3/15 8:30 am ET: Mar Empire Manufacturing Survey Tame
• 3/15 10:00 am ET: Mar P U. Mich. Sentiment and Inflation Expectation Tame
• 3/18 8:30 am ET: Mar New York Fed Business Activity Survey Tame
• 3/18 10:00 am ET: Mar NAHB Housing Market Index Tame
• 3/19 9:00 am ET: Mar Mid-Month Manheim Used Vehicle Index Tame
• 3/20 2:00 pm ET: Mar FOMC Rate Decision Dovish
• 3/21 8:30 am ET: Mar Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey Tame
• 3/21 9:45 am ET: Mar P S&P Global PMI Tame
• 3/25 10:30 am ET: Mar Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity Survey Tame
• 3/26 9:00 am ET: Mar S&P CoreLogic CS home price Tame
• 3/26 10:00 am ET: Mar Conference Board Consumer Confidence Tame
• 3/28 8:30 am ET: 4QT 2023 GDP Tame
• 3/28 10:00 am ET: Mar F U. Mich. Sentiment and Inflation Expectation Tame
• 3/29 8:30 am ET: Feb PCE Tame

Key incoming data February:

• 2/01 8:30am ET 4QP 2023 Nonfarm Productivity Mixed
• 2/01 9:45am ET S&P Global Manufacturing PMI January Final Tame 
• 2/01 10am ET January ISM Manufacturing Mixed
• 2/02 8:30am ET January Jobs Report Hot
• 2/02 10am ET: U. Mich. Sentiment and Inflation Expectation January Final Tame 
• 2/05 9:45am ET S&P Global Services & Composite PMI January Final Tame 
• 2/05 10am ET January ISM Services Tame 
• 2/07 9am ET Manheim Used Vehicle Index January Final Mixed
• 2/09 CPI Revisions Tame 
• 2/13 8:30am ET January CPI  Mixed
• 2/14 PPI Revisions Tame 
• 2/15 8:30am ET February Empire Manufacturing Survey  Tame 
• 2/15 8:30am ET February Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey Tame 
• 2/15 8:30am ET January Retail Sales Data Tame 
• 2/15 10am EST February NAHB Housing Market Index  Tame 
• 2/16 8:30am ET January PPI Mixed
• 2/16 8:30am ET February New York Fed Business Activity Survey Tame 
• 2/16 10am ET U. Mich. Sentiment and Inflation Expectation February Prelim Tame 
• 2/19 9am ET Manheim Used Vehicle Index February Mid-Month Tame 
• 2/21 2pm ET January FOMC Meeting Minutes Tame 
• 2/22 9:45am ET S&P Global PMI February Prelim Tame 
• 2/26 10:30am ET February Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity Survey Tame
• 2/27 9am ET February S&P CoreLogic CS home price Tame
• 2/27 10am ET February Conference Board Consumer Confidence Tame
• 2/28 8:30am ET 4QS 2023 GDP Tame
• 2/29 8:30am ET January PCE Tame

Key incoming data January:

• 1/02 9:45am ET S&P Global Manufacturing PMI December Final Mixed
• 1/03 10am ET December ISM Manufacturing Tame 
• 1/03 10am ET JOLTS Job Openings November Tame 
• 1/03 2pm ET December FOMC Meeting Minutes Tame 
• 1/04 9:45am ET S&P Global Services & Composite PMI December Final Tame 
• 1/05 8:30am ET December Jobs Report Mixed
• 1/05 10am ET December ISM Services Tame 
• 1/08 9am ET Manheim Used Vehicle Index December Final Tame 
• 1/11 8:30am ET December CPI Details Suggest Tame
• 1/12 8:30am ET December PPI Tame 
• 1/16 8:30am ET January Empire Manufacturing Survey Tame 
• 1/17 8:30am ET January New York Fed Business Activity Survey Tame 
• 1/17 8:30am ET December Retail Sales Data Strong
• 1/17 9am ET Manheim Used Vehicle Index January Mid-Month Tame 
• 1/17 10am EST January NAHB Housing Market Index Mixed
• 1/18 8:30am ET January Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey Tame 
• 1/19 10am ET U. Mich. Sentiment and Inflation Expectation January Prelim Tame 
• 1/24 9:45am ET S&P Global PMI January Prelim Mixed
• 1/25 8:30am ET 4QA 2023 GDP Mixed
• 1/26 8:30am ET December PCE Tame 
• 1/29 9:30am ET Dallas Fed January Manufacturing Activity Survey Tame 
• 1/30 9am ET January S&P CoreLogic CS home price Tame 
• 1/30 10am ET January Conference Board Consumer Confidence Tame 
• 1/30 10am ET JOLTS Job Openings December Mixed
• 1/31 2pm ET FOMC Rate Decision Tame 

Key incoming data December

• 12/01 9:45am ET S&P Global Manufacturing PMI November Final Tame 
• 12/01 10am ET November ISM Manufacturing Strong 
• 12/05 9:45am ET S&P Global Services & Composite PMI November Final Strong 
• 12/05 10am ET JOLTS Job Openings October Tame 
• 12/05 10am ET November ISM Services Strong 
• 12/06 8:30am ET 3QF 2023 Nonfarm Productivity Strong 
• 12/07 9am ET Manheim Used Vehicle Index November Final Tame 
• 12/08 8:30am ET November Jobs Report Tame
• 12/08 10am ET U. Mich. Sentiment and Inflation Expectation December Prelim Tame 
• 12/12 8:30am ET November CPI Tame
• 12/13 8:30am ET November PPI Tame
• 12/13 2pm ET FOMC Rate Decision Dovish
• 12/14 8:30am ET November Retail Sales Data Tame
• 12/15 8:30am ET December Empire Manufacturing Survey Tame
• 12/15 9:45am ET S&P Global PMI December Prelim Tame
• 12/18 8:30am ET December New York Fed Business Activity Survey Tame
• 12/18 10am ET December NAHB Housing Market Index Tame
• 12/19 9am ET Manheim Used Vehicle Index December Mid-Month Tame
• 12/20 10am ET December Conference Board Consumer Confidence Tame
• 12/21 8:30am ET 3QT 2023 GDP Mixed
• 12/21 8:30am ET December Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey Mixed
• 12/22 8:30am ET November PCE Tame
• 12/22 10am ET: U. Mich. Sentiment and Inflation Expectation December Final Tame
• 12/26 9am ET December S&P CoreLogic CS home price Tame
• 12/26 10:30am ET Dallas Fed December Manufacturing Activity Survey Tame
• 12/29 9:45am ET December Chicago PMI

Key incoming data November

• 11/01 9:45am ET S&P Global PMI October Final Tame
• 11/01 10am ET JOLTS Job Openings September Mixed
• 11/01 10am ET October ISM Manufacturing Tame
• 11/01 10am ET Treasury 4Q23 Quarterly Refunding Press Conference Tame
• 11/01 2pm ET FOMC Rate Decision Dovish
• 11/02 8:30am ET: 3Q23 Nonfarm Productivity Tame
• 11/03 8:30am ET October Jobs Report Tame
• 11/03 10am ET October ISM Services Mixed
• 11/07 9am ET Manheim Used Vehicle Index October Final Tame
• 11/10 10am ET U. Mich. November prelim Sentiment and Inflation Expectation Hot
• 11/14 8:30am ET October CPI Tame
• 11/15 8:30am ET October PPI Tame
• 11/15 8:30am ET November Empire Manufacturing Survey  Resilient
• 11/15 8:30am ET October Retail Sales Data Resilient
• 11/16 8:30am ET November New York Fed Business Activity Survey Tame
• 11/16 8:30am ET November Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey  Tame
• 11/16 10am ET November NAHB Housing Market Index  Tame
• 11/17 9am ET Manheim Used Vehicle Index November Mid-Month Tame
• 11/21 2pm ET Nov FOMC Meeting Minutes Tame
• 11/22 10am ET: U. Mich. November final Sentiment and Inflation Expectation Tame
• 11/24 9:45am ET S&P Global PMI November Prelim Mixed
• 11/27 10:30am ET Dallas Fed November Manufacturing Activity Survey Tame
• 11/28 9am ET November S&P CoreLogic CS home price  Tame
• 11/28 10am ET November Conference Board Consumer Confidence Tame
• 11/29 8:30am ET 3QS 2023 GDP Strong
• 11/29 2pm ET Fed Releases Beige Book Tame
• 11/30 8:30am ET October PCE Tame

Key incoming data October

• 10/2 10am ET September ISM Manufacturing Tame
•  10/3 10am ET JOLTS Job Openings August Hot
•  10/4 10am ET September ISM Services Tame
•  10/6 8:30am ET September Jobs Report Mixed
•  10/6 9am ET Manheim Used Vehicle Index September Final Tame
• 10/10 11am NY Fed Inflation Expectations Mixed
•  10/11 8:30am ET September PPI Mixed
•  10/11 2pm ET Sep FOMC Meeting Minutes Tame
•  10/12 8:30am ET September CPI Mixed
•  10/13 10am ET U. Mich. September prelim 1-yr inflation Mixed
•  10/16 8:30am ET October Empire Manufacturing Survey Tame
•  10/17 8:30am ET October New York Fed Business Activity Survey Tame
• 10/17 8:30am ET September Retail Sales Data Hot
•  10/17 9am ET Manheim October Mid-Month Used Vehicle Value Index Tame
•  10/17 10am ET October NAHB Housing Market Index Tame
• 10/18 8:30am ET September Housing Starts Tame
• 10/18 2pm ET Fed releases Beige Book Tame
•  10/19 8:30am ET October Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey Tame
• 10/19 10am ET Existing Home Sales Tame
• 10/19 12pm ET Fed (including Powell) at Economic Club of New York
•  10/24 9:45am ET S&P Global PMI October Prelim Tame
•  10/26 8:30am ET 3Q 2023 GDP Advance Strong
•  10/27 8:30am ET September PCE Tame
•  10/27 10am ET Oct F UMich Sentiment and Inflation expectation Tame
•  10/30 10:30am ET Dallas Fed September Manufacturing Activity Survey Tame
• 10/31 8:30am ET 3Q23 Employment Cost Index Mixed
•  10/31 9am ET August S&P CoreLogic CS home price Mixed
•  10/31 10am ET October Conference Board Consumer Confidence Tame

Key incoming data September

•  9/1 8:30am ET August Jobs Report Tame
•  9/1 10am ET August ISM Manufacturing Tame
•  9/6 10am ET August ISM Services Mixed
•  9/6 2pm ET Fed releases Beige Book Tame
•  9/8 9am ET Manheim Used Vehicle Index August Final Tame
•  9/8 2Q23 Fed Flow of Funds Report Tame
•   9/13 8:30am ET August CPI Mixed
•  9/14 8:30am ET August PPI Tame
•  9/15 8:30am ET September Empire Manufacturing Survey Tame
•  9/15 10am ET U. Mich. September prelim 1-yr inflation Tame
•  9/18 8:30am ET September New York Fed Business Activity Survey Tame
•  9/18 10am ET September NAHB Housing Market Index Tame
•  9/19 9am ET Manheim September Mid-Month Used Vehicle Value Index Mixed
•  9/20 2pm ET September FOMC rates decision Market saw Hawkish
•  9/21 8:30am ET September Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey Mixed
•  9/22 9:45am ET S&P Global PMI September Prelim
•  9/25 10:30am ET Dallas Fed September Manufacturing Activity Survey
•  9/26 9am ET July S&P CoreLogic CS home price
•  9/26 10am ET September Conference Board Consumer Confidence

Key incoming data August

• 8/1 10am ET July ISM Manufacturing Tame
• 8/1 10am ET JOLTS Job Openings Jun Tame
• 8/2 8:15am ADP National Employment Report Hot
• 8/3 10am ET July ISM Services Tame
• 8/4 8:30am ET July Jobs report Tame
• 8/7 11am ET Manheim Used Vehicle Index July Final Tame
• 8/10 8:30am ET July CPI Tame
• 8/11 8:30am ET July PPI Tame
• 8/11 10am ET U. Mich. July prelim 1-yr inflation Tame
• 8/11 Atlanta Fed Wage Tracker July Tame
• 8/15 8:30am ET Aug Empire Manufacturing Survey Mixed 
• 8/15 10am ET Aug NAHB Housing Market Index Tame
• 8/16 8:30am ET Aug New York Fed Business Activity Survey Neutral
• 8/16 2pm ET FOMC Minutes Mixed
• 8/17 8:30am ET Aug Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey Positive
• 8/17 Manheim Aug Mid-Month Used Vehicle Value Index Tame
• 8/23 9:45am ET S&P Global PMI Aug Prelim Weak
• 8/25 10am ET Aug Final U Mich 1-yr inflation Mixed
• 8/28 10:30am ET Dallas Fed Aug Manufacturing Activity Survey Tame
• 8/29 9am ET June S&P CoreLogic CS home price Tame
• 8/29 10am ET Aug Conference Board Consumer Confidence Tame
• 8/29 10 am ET Jul JOLTS Tame
• 8/31 8:30am ET July PCE Tame

Key incoming data July

• 7/3 10am ET June ISM Manufacturing Tame
• 7/6 8:15am ADP National Employment Report Hot
• 7/6 10am ET June ISM Services Tame
• 7/6 10 am ET May JOLTS Tame
• 7/7 8:30am ET June Jobs report Mixed
• 7/10 11am ET Manheim Used Vehicle Index June Final Tame
• 7/12 8:30am ET June CPI Tame
• 7/13 8:30am ET June PPI Tame
• 7/13 Atlanta Fed Wage Tracker June Tame
• 7/14 10am ET U. Mich. June prelim 1-yr inflation Mixed
• 7/17 8:30am July Empire Manufacturing Survey
• 7/18 8:30am July New York Fed Business Activity Survey
• 7/18 10am July NAHB Housing Market Index in-line
• 7/18 Manheim July Mid-Month Used Vehicle Value Index Tame
• 7/25 9am ET May S&P CoreLogic CS home price Tame
• 7/25 10am ET July Conference Board Consumer Confidence Tame
• 7/26 2pm ET July FOMC rates decision Tame
• 7/28 8:30am ET June PCE Tame
• 7/28 8:30am ET 2Q ECI Employment Cost Index Tame
• 7/28 10am ET July Final U Mich 1-yr inflation Tame

Key data from June

• 6/1 10am ET May ISM Manufacturing Tame
• 6/2 8:30am ET May Jobs report Tame
• 6/5 10am ET May ISM Services Tame
• 6/7 Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index May Tame
• 6/9 Atlanta Fed Wage Tracker April Tame
• 6/13 8:30am ET May CPI Tame
• 6/14 8:30am ET May PPI Tame
• 6/14 2pm ET April FOMC rates decision Tame
• 6/16 10am ET U. Mich. May prelim 1-yr inflation Tame
• 6/27 9am ET April S&P CoreLogic CS home price Tame
• 6/27 10am ET June Conference Board Consumer Confidence Tame
• 6/30 8:30am ET May PCE Tame
• 6/30 10am ET June Final U Mich 1-yr inflation Tame

Key data from May

• 5/1 10am ET April ISM Manufacturing (PMIs turn up) Positive inflection
• 5/2 10am ET Mar JOLTS Softer than consensus
• 5/3 10am ET April ISM Services Tame
• 5/3 2pm Fed May FOMC rates decision Dovish
• 5/5 8:30am ET April Jobs report Tame
• 5/5 Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index April Tame
• 5/8 2pm ET April 2023 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey Better than feared
• 5/10 8:30am ET April CPI Tame
• 5/11 8:30am ET April PPI Tame
• 5/12 10am ET U. Mich. April prelim 1-yr inflation Tame
• 5/12 Atlanta Fed Wage Tracker April Tame
• 5/24 2pm ET May FOMC minutes Dovish
• 5/26 8:30am ET PCE April Tame
• 5/26 10am ET U. Mich. April final 1-yr inflation Tame
• 5/31 10am ET JOLTS April job openings