In this week's Market Minutes recap, hear from our team of investment experts as they share their perspectives on the latest market and economic activity. Our panel shares detailed insights into PMI data, unemployment claims, the FOMC meeting, new non-farm payrolls, rates, and earnings.

Brian Pietrangelo, Managing Director of Investment Strategy
Cynthia Honcharenko, Director of Fixed Income
George Mateyo, Chief Investment Officer
Rajeev Sharma, Head of Fixed Income
Stephen Hoedt, Head of Equities

 
01:16 – While the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) showed the Manufacturing side of the economy is in contraction for the past 12 months, the Services side of the economy has been in an expansionary mode for the past 9 months 

02:42 – Initial Unemployment claims were at 217,000 for the prior week, which remain low; however, Continuing Unemployment claims rose to 1.8 million for the week, which is up about 10% for the last 6 weeks, signifying people are unable to adequately locate employment within a reasonable period

03:40 – The Federal Reserve had its November FOMC meeting, announcing The Fed Funds Rate will remain unchanged at the upper limit of 5.50%; This could be a hint that rate hikes are over

09:26 – Despite the Fed not calling for rate cuts yet, the bond market is calling for more significant rate cuts in 2024

12:19 – Though earnings this season have been underwhelming, they’re admittedly viewed as “good enough”. We can see this from Apple and the tech industries market contributions of about 30% of the S&P 500. 

14:45 – Remarks on crypto FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, guilty verdict 

15:53 – Final comments for listeners to maintain policy positioning and focus on long-term trends