Attack the Week (ATW)
Sunday Thoughts
I have had the same haircut for as long as I can remember. There were variations, of course, as different hairdressers applied their own interpretation. I would always ask for the same: short on the sides and keep it longer on top so I can choose whatever style I want to go with. Good boy image for business meetings, nicely styled to the side, or go wild when going to metal gigs.
My hairdresser, a lovely lady who lives nearby, also happens to style the hair of some UK boy band favourites. She suggested changing it up a little; honestly, I never really thought about it. I agreed. She envisages me to go longer on top so that I create a bit more volume. Heck, I have no idea what she is on about, so I’ll just go with it.
Playing around with Dall-e, I asked the AI to develop a variation that best describes it. Tip: You really have to tell the AI multiple times that you are a middle-aged, overweight man to generate anything even remotely matching your resemblance. Say what you want about AI, but it surely hasn’t studied the average male appearance. Anyway, I don’t want to knock my looks, but this is what it generated after many trials. So, I’m going from left to right; I am not yet sold on it, but I want to give it some time.
Dry January is almost done, and I have to say I miss having a good red wine with my protein-loaded dinners. Not long now, I guess.
Has anything changed? For the bulk of the month, I didn’t feel any different, and I didn’t lose any weight. This changed last week when I felt an improvement in both my cardio output (better running times) and my ability to push weight in the gym. It also helped me sharpen my clarity of thought and enjoy greater sleep quality. This will possibly change a little with the upcoming weekend when two social evenings will possibly introduce alcohol back into my system.
Friday’s core PCE rose 0.17% MoM in December, with a strong 0.28% core services excluding housing. Treasury curves flattened, with the 2-10s curve flattening back again after reaching key levels. US equities came under a bit of pressure. It’s all shaping up to get a bit more interesting as Friday’s charts showed a likely consolidation for US equities and some key levels for bonds and the USD at the current juncture.
This all shapes up for new momentum impulses to be unleashed as we head into quite an eventful week. The quarterly refunding announcement (QRA) and employment cost index for Q4 will precede the FOMC on Wednesday. We will then start the new month with claims and then NFP to close out the week. Meanwhile, 42% of SPX (4 of the MAG 7) earnings will be reported.
Let’s now dive into more details and charts, which we should keep on our radar as we progress through the week.
I have added around 50 new Single Equity Name alerts to the mix.