Good morning,
I expected to be writing about last week’s solid market performance, the start of earnings season, and the inflation data due this week—altogether, a market continuing its orderly ascent, led by AI, its adjacent beneficiaries, and the broader economy that increasingly rides their coattails.
Instead, that narrative has been abruptly hijacked by the White House’s weekend decision to pursue DOJ subpoenas against Jerome Powell’s Federal Reserve. The apparent willingness to undermine the independence—and credibility—of the institution itself is, by any measure, startling to global markets. Equity futures are down 50–60 basis points, bond yields are climbing (prices falling), while comparable markets abroad remain largely subdued.
Let’s hope this episode proves short-lived. There is no shortage of issues demanding serious leadership, including renewed efforts to unilaterally dictate credit-card interest rates (with bank earnings arriving this week) and increasingly ominous signs of instability emerging from Iran.
Be well,
Mike