To say the least, since its inception in 1913, the Federal Reserve has had its ups and downs. One thing most people don’t know is that, prior to the invention of the Fed, other than during wars, there was almost no inflation. Various sources , including the Federal Reserve regional banks, show that the purchasing power of $1 in 1900 was the same as or higher than it was in 1800. The Government did print and borrow money during wartime, which caused inflation during the War of 1812 and the Civ… View More
With roughly 60% of S&P 500 companies having reported, earnings growth estimates have climbed to 27.8%—nearly double the 14.4% expected at the start of the quarter. While mega-cap companies have delivered particularly strong results, growth expectations have improved across every sector except energy. This marks the sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit earnings growth. Equally notable, revenue growth is now exceeding 10%, with broad-based strength across sectors. 2026 full-year earni… View More
The federal government is still on an unsustainable fiscal path, with the national debt reaching $39 trillion in March and poised to rise further in the years ahead as we keep running budget deficits. However, beneath the headlines, both revenue and spending trends have shifted in a positive direction. Its possible investors are recognizing this, which may be helping buoy stock markets. On the tax front, yes, the Big Beautiful Bill enacted last year made permanent many of the temporary tax chan… View More
Given sector performance in the first quarter, most people would not be surprised to learn that Energy and Materials were two of the top three contributors to forward upward earnings revisions. What might be surprising is that expectations for NTM earnings in the Tech sector are up by more than 18%, even though the sector's total return was down 9.1% in the first quarter. Multiples for the sector at 23.2x are meaningfully lower than the Industrials and Consumer Discretionary sectors at 25.8x and… View More
Strategas’ Common Man CPI popped in March amid the energy shock resulting from the U.S war with Iran. As a reminder, the Common Man CPI (CMCPI) consists only of the components people must buy – Food, Energy, Shelter, Insurance, and Children’s clothing. Essentially, it is a “core” measure of inflation in the way a consumer, rather than an economist, would think of it. While the move in our measure m/m was lower than the 0.9% m/m increase of the headline CPI, consumers remain pressured … View More