It was Anticipation Week for the markets as they waited for Fed Chair Powells Jackson Hole remarks on Friday, which called for a pivot in interest rates and drove the S&P 500 to back-to-back positive weeks, with Fridays close at 5,634. The week started with the S&P 500 making it eight consecutive up days and closing above the 5,600 level for the first time since 16 July. On Tuesday we broke that streak and fell below 5,600. On Wednesday the FOMC minutes were released, and anticipation grew as the the vast majority of participants at the central banks meeting said it would likely be appropriate to lower the key interest rate at the 18 September meeting, if data continues to come in as expected. As such, the S&P 500 rebounded above the 5,600 level on that news. On Thursday the S&P 500 made an intraday high at the open, but then sold off to session lows at the close. On Friday anticipation rose, the S&P 500 gapped up at the open, and then came Fed Chair Powells remark at 1000. In just 15 minutes, Powell stated that "The time has come for policy to adjust. The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data." Giving credence to the FOMC minutes, the anticipation was over and the S&P 500 notched a daily gain of over 1%. Next week we close out August, but September will bring us the employment and inflation reports prior to that 18 September FOMC meeting and be the driver of the actual rate amount. For TSP TIPS both the F and I funds made new all-time and 52 weeks highs on Friday. We also saw the C and I funds take out the high of their last two weekly red bars, but their 20 Moving Averages (MAs) remain below their 50 MAs. That said, the C fund remains at the top on the Performance Ranking (PR) leaderboard and all fund (F/C/S/I) PRs are increasing. Given this bullish environment, we remain 100% invested (no G fund allocation) and will use next weeks PR to update our investment mix if needed.
It was Anticipation Week for the markets as they waited for Fed Chair Powells Jackson Hole remarks on Friday, which called for a pivot in interest rates and drove the S&P 500 to back-to-back positive weeks, with Fridays close at 5,634. The week started with the S&P 500 making it eight consecutive up days and closing above the 5,600 level for the first time since 16 July. On Tuesday we broke that streak and fell below 5,600. On Wednesday the FOMC minutes were released, and anticipation grew as the the vast majority of participants at the central banks meeting said it would likely be appropriate to lower the key interest rate at the 18 September meeting, if data continues to come in as expected. As such, the S&P 500 rebounded above the 5,600 level on that news. On Thursday the S&P 500 made an intraday high at the open, but then sold off to session lows at the close. On Friday anticipation rose, the S&P 500 gapped up at the open, and then came Fed Chair Powells remark at 1000. In just 15 minutes, Powell stated that "The time has come for policy to adjust. The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data." Giving credence to the FOMC minutes, the anticipation was over and the S&P 500 notched a daily gain of over 1%. Next week we close out August, but September will bring us the employment and inflation reports prior to that 18 September FOMC meeting and be the driver of the actual rate amount. For TSP TIPS both the F and I funds made new all-time and 52 weeks highs on Friday. We also saw the C and I funds take out the high of their last two weekly red bars, but their 20 Moving Averages (MAs) remain below their 50 MAs. That said, the C fund remains at the top on the Performance Ranking (PR) leaderboard and all fund (F/C/S/I) PRs are increasing. Given this bullish environment, we remain 100% invested (no G fund allocation) and will use next weeks PR to update our investment mix if needed.