DHUnplugged #658: No Limits

National Debt - Which way is it moving? 

Cough Syrup risk - toxic supply alert...

Fed paused or skipped in last week's meeting - what that really means.

New Things - from the screen to your table (New meaning for Binge)

PLUS we are now on Spotify and Amazon Music/Podcasts!

Click HERE for Show Notes and Links
DHUnplugged is now streaming live - with listener chat. Click on link on the right sidebar.

Love the Show? Then how about a Donation?

Follow John C. Dvorak on Twitter
Follow Andrew Horowitz on Twitter
Check out ccpstats.com

Warm Up
- National Debt - Which way is it moving?
- Booming business - converting ICE to EV
- Cough Syrup risk - toxic supply
- Fed paused or skipped in last week's meeting
- New Things - from the screen to your table (New meaning for Binge)
- Happy belayed Juneteenth

Market Update
- Bulls are in control - half full
- Fed says more hikes to come - no one believes them
- ECB raises rates again - even as Eurozone slips into recession
- Economic point to downside risk
- China stimulus on the way

NO SHOW NEXT WEEK - Cruising the Abacos (Bahamas)
--- Assuming Tropical storm does not kick up

Fed Meeting
- Looked like a hawkish call
- Unanimous decision to hold this meeting
- Powell talked up future rate hikes and changed outlook to include 2 more @0.25%
- Markets are not buying it..
--- Initial rates came up then they came in a bit, equity markets moved in similar fashion
- What this is telling you is that markets feel that higher rates impacting the economy is fake news
----- BUT, if so, Powell will be even more aggressive

Fed Follow Up
- Last week, S&P 500 reaches highest in 14 months.
- Led by the Mega-caps again.
- Markets fell a bit on Friday with Op-X and long weekend

Even more Fed Follow up
- Friday: The Federal Reserve warned Friday that tighter U.S. credit conditions following a spate of bank failures in the spring could hinder economic growth this year.
- In its semi-annual monetary report to Congress, the central bank noted that bank lending conditions have "tightened notably" over the past year due to the rapid increase in interest rates and the recent turmoil within the financial sector.
- "Evidence suggests that the recent banking-sector stress and related concerns about deposit outflows and funding costs contributed to tightening and expected tightening in lending standards and terms at some banks beyond what these banks would have reported absent the banking-sector stress," the report said.
- That survey also pointed to a sharp slowdown in demand for credit.
----- The percentage of banks reporting stronger demand for commercial and industrial loans tumbled by 55.5% in the first three months of the year, the sharpest decline since 2009 during the global financial crisis.
- Powell: "The economy is facing headwinds from tighter credit conditions for households and businesses, which are likely to weigh on economic activity, hiring and inflation," he said. "The extent of these effects remains uncertain."

Economics
- Data showed U.S. retail sales unexpectedly rose in May as consumers spent on a range of goods including vehicles.
- Another data set showed jobless claims were unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 262,0000 for the week ended June 10, but were above economists' forecast of 249,000 claims.
- Import prices fell in May and the annual decrease was the sharpest in three years.
- That followed a report on Tuesday showing April headline inflation increased by less than expected.

 Crypto
- According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and despite the U.S. regulator not approving any applications for spot bitcoin ETFs to date, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust will use Coinbase Custody as its custodian.
- The SEC rejected Grayscale Investment LLC’s application last year to convert its flagship spot Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an ETF.