The last thing you probably heard about the stock market was the December to Remember. US Stocks took a beating after the Fed (The wicked, bad, Naughty Fed) decided it was time to screw president Trump’s economic recovery tighten monetary policy. I’m not saying it doesn’t need to happen. But that was not a great time unless you happen to be Ebeneezer Scrooge or on some Trump hater’s speed dial.
In late December the Fed reversed course and backed off further interest rate hikes. And while we’d like to see the Fed (audited, or better yet gone) the response to this news was an uplifting of economic confidence and the market with it.
U.S. stocks have experienced their best start to a new year in nearly 30 years. The stock market has now regained the 10 percent or so that it lost late last year, and there’s reason to remain optimistic. Traders say there’s still underinvestment, meaning there’s plenty of money around to be invested in the coming months.
That’s not the only good news.
[S]tocks rallied to extend their winning streak to nine weeks on Feb. 22, on signs that trade talks with China were progressing, traders say the Fed’s complete reversal in policy since December has given the president’s tariffs the bite they needed to get China fully engaged in trade negotiations.
China is more or less caving to US demands and with a deal in the offing the US stands to benefit significantly. A far better deal than before Mr. Trump took office. Think Tanks’ in Europe agree.
The Chinese reduced tariffs on American automobiles. They agreed to buy more US good to balance the trade imbalance. And a more permanent agreement is near. That has the markets swooning as well.
The prospect of a weaker dollar exacerbated the threat of tariffs to China’s economy and gave additional impetus to the high-level trade talks taking place in Washington. Now that China is fully engaged, investors have become bullish about the prospects for a historic trade deal that will correct our decades-old trade imbalance, and stocks are rebounding strongly.
You might have missed all that. What with Democrats advocating infanticide, wearing blackface, being accused of rape, and out-lefting each other, who has time for good economic news. Certainly not the legacy media. They are busy sharpening their talons for the historic Mueller report shoe-drop because misreporting actual news is so much easier than reporting on how another whiny liberal got caught making it up.
