About this episode
* One piece of positive economic news ISM Non-Manufacturing Index for July surged to 60.3 - highest number in 10 years * The ADP Employment Report came in at 185,000 jobs, well below the consensus * June Trade Deficit rose 7.1% - in line with expectations * June Layoffs rose to 105,696 biggest layoff number in 6 years * Consumer Comfort Index down to 40.3 second lowest number since November * The Atlanta Fed dropped a bombshell forecasting Q3 at just 1% * Given this slowdown, could we possibly have a rate hike? * The stock market has had 6 consecutive down days * The stocks with no earnings are doing the best * Very reminiscent of the dot com era * The "story stocks" are selling in 2015 * Companies that actually have earnings are experiencing the greatest pressure on their share price * Every time we have a dip in the stock market, the Fed always comes to the rescue * Why wait until the economy is slowing down to raise rates? * They can't do that this time, unless they want to abandon their rate hike rhetoric * They will have to take the rate hikes off the table * Janet Yellen continues to say rate hikes are data dependent * The data has been bad for quite a while * The economy is growing at the slowest pace of the entire "recovery" * All the Fed can do is go back to the drawing board with more QE, because they can't admit that it never worked * The money printing is just getting started * Not that it is going to work, but it is the only policy remedy the Fed has * Some stocks are really getting beaten up as earnings continue to disappoint * This topping pattern has got to worry the Fed * Any rate hike will accelerate the decline * We have a stock market bubble and raising rates will prick that bubble * Ben Bernanke created the stock market bubble thinking the "wealth effect" would cure the economy * Bernanke would not acknowledge that bubbles weaken the economy because it was not politically advantageous * The First Republican Debate was held tonight, so please follow me on Twitter for my comments * Donald Trump is far and away the leader in the polls and he is one of the few candidates who have been critical of the Fed * The only other candidate in the race who knows anything about the Fed is Rand Paul * Tomorrow could be a big day - the question is, if we get a bad jobs number, will we finally have a reaction in the currency markets? Our Sponsors: * Check out FRE and use my code LISTEN20 for a great deal: https://frepouch.com * Check out Infinite Epigenetics: https://infiniteepigenetics.com/GOLD * Check out Justin Wine and use my code SCHIFF20 for a great deal: https://www.justinwine.com Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy