Stocks stumbled last week because oil prices went up and bond yields went up and apparently no one could have predicted that higher prices might be bad for stocks. Except everyone. Everyone predicted it. It happens every time.
The inflation fears are back. They left for a bit. Now they're back. Like a relative who keeps asking to borrow money. You know they're coming. You see them walking up the driveway. You still act surprised when they knock.
Two companies performed well enough to keep some poor bastard bullish despite all this. The article doesn't name them in the summary. Very helpful. It's like saying "I found two reasons not to jump off this bridge" and then not telling anyone what the bridge is or where the reasons are or whether the reasons are just two different brands of whiskey.
Bond yields stoked renewed concerns. Renewed. As if inflation concerns ever actually went away. As if anyone stopped being concerned. They just got quiet about it for three weeks while they pretended the Fed might pivot. The Fed didn't pivot. The Fed never pivots. The Fed raises rates until something breaks and then acts shocked that something broke.
Surging oil prices caused all this panic. Oil went from expensive to more expensive. Traders saw the price go up and thought "this will make everything cost more" and then sold stocks. Brilliant detective work. Real Sherlock Holmes shit.
But two mystery stocks gave someone reasons to stay bullish. Two whole stocks. Out of thousands. That's like being on the Titanic and saying "well, two of the lifeboats don't have holes in them, so I'm feeling pretty good about this voyage."
Photo by Tyler Prahm on Unsplash
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