Hey friend, We got the trade deficit numbers this morning, which came in at a near two-year low. The trade deficit with China, in particular, was the smallest in over 21 years. A much-watched gauge of services activity came in above forecasts, showing steady growth in the US services sector. Let’s see how markets have been moving. The Daily Direction Note: All indexes closed sharply higher yesterday – likely….

Hey friend, The only big economic release this morning was factory orders – which showed a sharp decline, but much less than expected. Related to that, tomorrow we’ll get the latest trade deficit numbers as well as a gauge of manufacturing and service activity. The Daily Direction Note: All indexes closed sharply lower Friday – sending all short-term index directions downward. But they opened higher this morning, which helped….

Hey friend, This morning we got the big US employment numbers, which showed the unemployment rate ticking up to 4.2%. Job growth numbers also showed significantly fewer jobs added than expected. Combine all this with Trump showing no sign of extending his tariff deadline (they’re set to come into effect a week from today)… And the pullback Head Trader Ross Givens has been warning about it here. The Daily….

Hey friend, This morning we got PCE data – the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge… Right after the Fed decided to hold rates steady yesterday. It came in slightly higher than expectations at 2.6% year-over-year and 0.3% month-over-month. We also got the weekly jobless claims data, which was stable and slightly below expectations. Finally, there was personal income and spending, which were both steady. Taken in tandem, this almost certainly….

Hey friend, This morning we got private sector employment data, which came in substantially ahead of estimates. We also got second-quarter GDP numbers – which showed a topline 3% growth, which was also significantly higher than expected. In a couple hours the Fed will announce their interest rate decision. Almost everybody expects them to hold rates steady. But it’s Fed Chair Powell’s press conference that will really move markets…..

Hey friend, This morning we got preliminary data on the trade deficit – which was much smaller than expected. We also got consumer confidence data, which showed a slight rebound in July. Finally, we got the big job openings numbers. This one however came in below expectations by 120,000 (7.43 million actual vs. 7.55 million expected). Tomorrow – the big Fed decision and Powell’s market-moving press conference, plus more….