DoubleLine Portfolio Managers Jeff Mayberry and Eric Dhall discuss the week ended May 9, including a mixed bag for stocks (0:55), rates up across the board in fixed income (2:59) and commodities (4:12) largely up with the notable exception of agricultural products. Bitcoin (5:17) crossed back above $100,000. On the macro front, ISM services for April came in at 51.6, much better than the consensus estimate of 50.2. No surprise, the U.S. trade deficit for March worsened to -$140.5 billion as importers moved to front-run the imposition of tariffs by President Trump.
For the Topic of the Week (8:23), Jeff and Eric covered Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s news conference following the Federal Open Market Committee’s well anticipated decision to stand pat on monetary policy. The upshot from FOMC guidance and Powell’s press comments was the Fed, while seeing elevated risks to its mandates for price stability and full employment, does not know how tariffs and trade negotiations will play out in the economy. Jeff Mayberry suspects that if push comes to shove, the Fed likely will prioritize inflation fighting over full employment. Topping Jeff and Eric’s calendar for the week of May 12-16 (13:12) will be April consumer price index on Tuesday.
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18:32
Stock Vol Just a Bad Dream to Rip van Winkle (E213)
DoubleLine Portfolio Manager Eric Dhall and Fixed Income Asset Allocation Strategist Ryan Kimmel (0:22) review markets and macro through the week ended May 2. “If you were a Rip van Winkle investor who went to sleep March 31 and woke up today, what would you find?” After the tariff-unleashed sell-offs, Eric notes Rip would find equities up across the major indices. Rates (4:97) moving higher farther out the yield curve led to lower returns in most of the fixed income universe for the month with bright spots being high yield corporates and bank loans. Commodities (6:57) were down more than 4% from March 31 through May 2, led by energy down 14%, with precious metals being the bright spot, up 6%, and gold up 3%.
Economic data (8:47) for the week, Ryan notes, “took more of a front stage compared to previous weeks that were dominated by tariffs.” Among those prints, he covers the JOLTS report, with weaker-than-expected job openings reported for March and a healthy balance between job openings and total unemployed workers. Consumer confidence has deteriorated due to concerns about tariffs. ISM manufacturing shows more contraction into recessionary territory. On a positive note, nonfarm payrolls showed improvement amid abating wage growth.
Looking to the week ahead (21:11), topping Eric and Ryan’s calendar will be the Federal Open Market Committee meeting Wednesday May 7 and Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell’s news conference. The futures markets have priced in only a 3% probability of a cut to the target federal funds rate. The news conference promises to be more interesting. “Everybody is going to be watching Jay Powell to see how he tap-dances around the questions that he’s going to get regarding his job.”
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25:22
Headline Fatigue or Just Normal Fatigue? (E212)
DoubleLine Portfolio Manager Jeff Mayberry and Fixed Income Asset Allocation Strategist Ryan Kimmel recap the markets for the week of April 21-25, noting how the post-April 2 volatility has made it seem like a very long month. Equities (0:53) were up on the week, with the trade stories of 2024 on growth, value and tech putting in an appearance. The bond market (2:21) had a pretty quiet week while the Agg continued to have a pretty good run in the new year. Commodities (3:33) were flat. Jeff and Ryan note that the markets seemed to dodge another volatile week after President Donald Trump walked back his calls for removal of the Fed chair. Over in Macro Land (7:54), they look at mixed April prelim manufacturing and services PMI numbers, consistent initial jobless claims and a consumer sentiment score that is usually only seen in crises. The week in Fedspeak (15:48) had a pair of Fed governors each addressing a side of the agency’s inflation-employment mandate. Next week (18:34) will bring prints including JOLTS numbers, a Q1 GDP estimate (very low) and inflation data.
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24:46
Relative Recumbence Post-Tariff Turbulence (E211)
DoubleLine Portfolio Manager Eric Dhall and Analyst Mark Kimbrough review (0:05) the abbreviated market week ended April 17. It was a week characterized by lessened price volatility than in the first two weeks of the month and somewhat positive macro prints. As stocks ended lower (0:48), value stocks and the equal-weighted S&P 500 posted gains, diverging from declines for growth stocks and the market-cap-weighted S&P 500. Fixed income (2:00) had a positive week in high yield corporates and emerging markets as well as the investment grade, government and government-guaranteed sectors. Commodities (3:00) caught a bounce.
On the macro front (4:39), Eric and Mark walked through import prices, retail sales and industrial data, finding some positive news in the readings, but they cautioned to wait for May data, given the as-yet unclear adjustments under way in response to Trump administration trade policies and reactions from U.S. trading partners. Looking to the week ahead (14:24), among other reports, Eric and Mark will be on the lookout for the Leading Economic Index (Monday), S&P Global manufacturing and services (Wednesday) and durable goods orders (Thursday).
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18:12
More Turbulence Post “Liberation” or “Obliteration” Day (E210)
DoubleLine Portfolio Manager Jeff Mayberry and Fixed Income Asset Allocation Strategist Ryan Kimmel April 11, 2025, look into the extraordinary intra-week turbulence (0:48) behind a moderate weekly gain in the S&P 500, an almost no-place-to-hide week for bonds (4:41) and commodities (9:57) showing weakening demand in industrial inputs as WTI crude pierced intraweek below $56/barrel.
Overwhelmed by tariff-driven sentiment in the wake of Liberation or Obliteration Day, the markets paid little attention to the week’s backward-looking macro prints (11:24), including constructive March reports for the consumer and producer price indexes. For their review of the week’s Fed Speak (20:23), Jeff and Ryan single out comments on Thursday by Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee. In a fireside chat hosted by the Economic Club of New York, Goolsbee said tariffs risk “a stagflationary shock.” This complicates the Fed’s achievement of both its full employment and price stability mandates. “There’s not a generic playbook,” Goolsbee said, “for how a central bank should respond to a stagflationary shock.”
The abbreviated April 14-17 market week (22:44) appears to be relatively quiet in terms of scheduled macro news. Jeff and Ryan will be on the lookout for import prices (Tuesday) and retail sales and industrial production (Wednesday).
Brasil