Market Outlook Feb 14th--->Feb 18th $SPY

Breakdown of Each chart
Top left - S&P 500 / General market
Bottom left - QQQ / Nasdaq / Tech sector
Top right- XLF / Financial sector
Bottom right- Dollar index

Recap
Investors went on another wild ride this week, but ultimately US stock indices finished modestly below where they started. Trading remained choppy as traders digested another slew of earnings reports around the release of key US inflation data. Even before the CPI print inflation worries percolated, copper, iron ore, timber and coffee prices surged garnering attention. Quarterly earnings conference calls were rife with commentary about the expectation that companies will continue to raise prices through the remainder 2022 to offset rising supply chain costs. Also, a protest by Canadian truckers over vaccine mandates shut down several key bridges on the US/Canada border resulting in significant down time at multiple US automobile OEM facilities. WTI crude hit a fresh 8-year high on Friday spurred by reports that the US government now believes Russian President Putin has made the decision to invade Ukraine.

Thursday’s January CPI release spooked markets yet again, after coming in substantially hotter than already-goosed market expectations, reaching the highest annual pace since 1982. The upside surprise in the core index was spread across a wide range of categories, including some that have been heavily influenced by bottlenecks and others where price pressures could be viewed as more likely to stick. Stock markets came under pressure and Treasury yields immediately shot up on the news, led by the 2-year yield which surged 25 basis points, the largest daily gain since 2009. The 10-year yield retook 2% for the first time since 2019, but investors were also quick to fret over the narrowing of spreads or the curve flattening and what it might signal about future growth prospects. Futures markets quickly saw the odds of a 50 basis point March rate hike rise above 50%. By Friday, investment houses were aggressively ratcheting up their Federal Reserve tightening expectations after FOMC voter Bullard called for a 50bps hike in March, while also indicating significant quantitative tightening (balance sheet reduction) and perhaps intra-meeting hikes may also be necessary to get inflation under control. For the week, the S&P lost 1.8%, the DJIA was off 1%, and the Nasdaq fell 2.2%

In corporate news this week, Disney shares rose after reporting strong quarterly results, boosted by robust theme park attendance and higher than anticipated streaming service subscriber growth. Pfizer dropped after issuing a weaker 2022 outlook than expected, and late in the week said it would delay its application to the FDA to expand its Covid vaccine to kids under 5 until April. On the supply chain front, Intel’s CEO said the company expects chip wafer supply to remain tight through 2023, while FMC Corp noted they have seen initial signs of packaging costs easing. Republic Services confirmed plans to buy US Ecology for $2.2B in cash, and Republic added it plans to pursue additional tuck-in acquisitions in the environmental solutions sector.