Is good economic news good news for equities or bad news? We know how to interpret macro news for the bond market. The Citi Economic Surprise Index (ESI), which measures whether top-down economic releases are beating or missing expectations, has been a bit weak. Historically, a weak ESI has meant lower bond yields.
What does it mean for equities? Investors saw a string of weaker-than-expected macro prints last week, starting with an anemic ISM PMI on Monday, followed by a miss on job openings in JOLTS Tuesday and another miss on ADP employment Wednesday. In each of those cases, bond prices rallied and equities initially weakened, followed by price recoveries later in the day.
I interpret events from the perspective of three trading desks: bonds, commodities and equities.
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