Three Central Banks Hold And Two Increase

The Fed held today. Rates stay at 3.5%-3.75%. But here's the thing — the hold was not the news. The news was in the dot plot. The median projection for where rates will end 2026. Core PCE inflation was revised up to 3.3%. And unemployment? Revised up to 4.3%. Rising inflation and rising unemployment in the same forecast. That is the stagflation signal, and if you've been in this business long enough, you know what that means: the Fed is in a corner.

Now let me tell you why they're in that corner, because this is the part that almost nobody is saying out loud.

Oil went from $53 a barrel at the start of the year to one hundred and twelve because of the Iran conflict. It's retreating now — call it $76— on peace deal expectations. That move, from $53 to $112 and back down, had absolutely nothing to do with the federal funds rate. Rate hikes can slow down the economy. They can reduce demand for gasoline. What they cannot do — not even a little — is increase the supply of oil coming out of a war zone. They cannot reopen a blocked strait. They cannot convince OPEC to pump more barrels. In fact, here is the crazy part. We are at tank bottoms in Cushing Oklahoma. A lot of folks focus on the strategic petroleum reserve as an indicator of inventory. But the tank levels in Cushing Oklahoma are far more important. These levels need to be maintained at certain minimums in order for the refineries to operate. If the flow of oil were to stop even briefly, it would force refineries to shut down in a disorderly manner and restarting would take weeks. So prices this low combined with real inventory this low is unprecedented and is not an accurate reflection of the true supply and demand situation.

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