Stocks Drop As Fed Ramps Up Hawkish Rhetoric

 | Aug 03, 2022 03:09AM ET

Stocks had another volatile session yesterday, with the S&P 500 trading around the flat line most of the day but turning lower by 70 bps at the close. At this point, the index seems to be consolidating sideways, despite some solid sell attempts. CTA and Vol Control funds appear to be overwhelming the market and helping “hold things up.” Once these guys disappear, the rally will fizzle; at this point, more sellers will need to emerge to change this trend. When the seller’s return will largely depend on how much rates can rise, how strong the dollar can get, and ultimately how tight financial conditions become.

It still looks like the index can get up to around 4,175 to 4,200 before ultimately stalling out. Especially now that we are starting to see, rates move back up after some hawkish commentary from Fed governors Daly, Evans, Mester, and Bullard. The general tone was that rates need to go higher and will probably need to stay there for some time until they see a clear move lower in inflation.

We may be in a throw-over of a rising wedge, but to confirm that, we wold need to fall below the lower trend line of the pattern, or the second black line.