After a big ramp-fest to finish off last week, equities are adding to the gains in the early going today.
Treasuries, gold, and silver are flattish along with the dollar.
The Wall Street Journal was full of dire headlines this morning when I did my daily review. “Fed’s Rate Moves Put Manufacturing Sector at Risk” ... “Housing Market Momentum Stalls as Spring Approaches” ... and so on. Then there was the “Wall Street Concedes There is Finally an Alternative to Stocks” piece here.
The general idea? You can’t say “TINA” – or “There Is No Alternative” – to stocks anymore given how bonds and even cash sport much higher yields. In fact, two-thirds of the professional and retail investors in a just-released Bloomberg MLIV Pulse survey say cash will now HELP their portfolios rather than HURT them.
There isn’t much news on the economic front for now. But that’ll change as the week goes on – with key employment news due out on Wednesday and Friday. Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell is also set to testify before Congress about the state of the economy on Wednesday.
In corporate news, Tesla (TSLA) is cutting prices again on Model S and X cars. That brings cumulative declines to as much as 21% since January, an indicator of how EV competition is heating up and how manufacturers are using price cuts to buoy sales.