Equities got blasted yesterday for reasons I’ll cover in a minute. Today, they’re trying to stabilize in the early going.
Treasuries are flat along with gold, silver, and the dollar, while oil is a bit weaker.
On the news front, it wasn’t a good start to the week – or even a decent one – yesterday. All the major averages tumbled 2% or more on renewed fears of an aggressive Federal Reserve. Treasury yields spiked as well in a return of the “sell stocks AND sell bonds” trade. The 10-year is back to yielding just under 4%.
We’ll find out more about the Fed’s thought process later today, incidentally. That’s because minutes for the Fed’s Jan. 31 – Feb. 1 meeting will be released at 2 pm EST.
Semiconductor companies will learn what kind of subsidies they can get from Uncle Sam this week with the roll out of the $53 billion Chips Act. The goal is to onshore more production of critical chips.
Speaking of semis, Intel (INTC) just took the axe to its dividend. The company said it will pay only 12.5 cents per share per quarter, down 66% from 36.5 cents previously.
Meanwhile, a Mortgage Bankers Association index that tracks applications to buy homes plunged 18% this week. That left it at the lowest level in 28 years. No surprise what caused that: Thirty-year mortgage rates spiked to 6.62%, the highest since November.
