The nightmare scenario appears to be unfolding as the financial market prepares for next week's FOMC meeting. Expectations are building that the Fed will accelerate the tapering of its asset purchases.
Today's CPI report seems to carry a hidden message, telegraphed by the bond market. Yields across the curve are falling, with the two-year rate down five bps to 65 bps. The 10-year also is down around four bps to 1.45%. This comes as a surprise to most, considering that the CPI report came in at 6.8%, meeting analysts' expectations.
But perhaps even worse is that the stock market may think that the Fed won't taper faster and that the economy can't withstand a Fed tightening cycle, as noted in this article posted on
ZeroHedge from Nomura. If this is the case, the market will likely be on the wrong side of things come Wednesday.
Given the strong employment figures, initial jobless claims data, and now the CPI print, it seems hard to imagine the Fed won't taper faster. Plus, with the equity market trading just below its all-time highs, the stock market is telling the Fed to go ahead and taper faster.
None of this is good for the stock market. It seems apparent that not only has the stock market corrected already started, but it's also about to get a whole lot worse.