Dot Plot Will Be The Most Important Chart For Investors To Watch Tomorrow, Brent Crude Hits $95

To gain an edge, this is what you need to know today.

Dot Plot

Please click here for the Fed’s prior dot plot.

Note the following:

• The FOMC meeting is starting today. Tomorrow, the Fed will announce its decision at 2pm ET followed by Powell’s press conference at 2:30pm ET.
• The dot plot shows each FOMC participants’ projected mid point of the target for the federal funds rate. Each dot represents an FOMC participant.
• The chart shows that no FOMC participants projected a federal funds rate of less than 5.125% in 2023.
• The chart shows that one FOMC participant projected a federal funds rate above 6% in 2023.
• The chart shows wide dispersion in 2024. The highest projection is 5.875%. The lowest projection is 3.625%.
• In The Arora Report analysis, there is enough uncertainty in the economic data that the high end of the projection at 5.875% and the lower end of the projection 3.625% are both possible. This is why it is important for investors to start from Arora’s Second Law of Investing and Trading. Arora’s Second Law states, “Nobody knows with certainty what is going to happen next in the markets.” It is important to not get locked into a bullish or bearish point of view. Consider flowing with the new data points. The Morning Capsules are your best source of new data points that matter. For the most part, you can ignore new data points that are not mentioned in the Morning Capsule.
• The Fed is expected to release a new dot plot tomorrow.
• The most important information from the Fed meeting will be the dot plot.
• The consensus is that the Fed will have a hawkish statement but leave the rate unchanged.
• Regarding the dot plot, momo gurus believe the dot plot will show as many as five interest rate cuts. This is the reason momo gurus are giving to urge their followers to aggressively buy stocks. The historical record is clear – momo gurus have consistently been wrong, yet being wrong does not stop momo gurus from making new projections and pretending that they know what the market will do. Keep in mind that momo gurus’ real job is to run up the stock market under the disguise of analysis. Nonetheless, it is important to pay attention to what momo gurus are saying because they have legions of followers who do not deeply analyze but instead, blindly buy.
• Prudent investors should note that in contrast to the momo crowd, smart money is not engaging in wholesale buying of stocks at this time.  
• The Arora Report has consistently called every major Fed move correctly over the last 16 years.
• As an actionable item, the sum total of the foregoing is in the protection band, which strikes the optimum balance between various crosscurrents. Please scroll down to see the protection band.

Housing Starts

Housing starts fell, but building permits went up. This indicates that high interest rates are beginning to reduce immediate demand for housing, but builders remain optimistic for the future. Here are the details:

• Housing starts came at 1.283M vs. 1.435M consensus.
• Building permits came at 1.543M vs. 1.442M consensus.

Magnificent Seven Money Flows

In the early trade, money flows are positive in Apple Inc AAPL. Anecdotal evidence is that orders for iPhone 15 in China are strong. Yesterday, we shared with you that iPhone 15 preorders in the U.S. appear to be better than expected.

In the early trade, money flows are negative in Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, Alphabet Inc Class C GOOG, Meta Platforms Inc META, Microsoft Corp MSFT, NVIDIA Corp NVDA, and Tesla Inc TSLA.

In the early trade, money flows are negative in SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY and Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 QQQ.

Momo Crowd And Smart Money In Stocks

The momo crowd is buying stocks in the early trade. Smart money is 🔒 stocks in the early trade.

Gold

The momo crowd is buying gold in the early trade. Smart money is 🔒 in the early trade.

For longer-term, please see gold and silver ratings.

The most popular ETF for gold is SPDR Gold Trust GLD. The most popular ETF for silver is iShares Silver Trust SLV. 

Oil

Brent crude has hit $95. Please see yesterday’s Morning Capsule for details on oil. Here is the chart of oil futures. For the sake of full transparency, this chart is unchanged from what was previously published.

The momo crowd is aggressively buying oil in the early trade. Smart money is 🔒 in the early trade.

For longer-term, please see oil ratings.

The most popular ETF for oil is United States Oil ETF USO.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin BTC/USD is staying above $27,000 and seeing buying.

Markets

Our very, very short-term early stock market indicator is negative. This indicator, with a great track record, is popular among long term investors to stay in tune with the market and among short term traders to independently undertake quick trades.

Protection Band And What To Do Now

It is important for investors to look ahead and not in the rearview mirror.

Consider continuing to hold good, very long term, existing positions. Based on individual risk preference, consider holding 🔒 in cash or Treasury bills or allocated to short-term tactical trades; and short to medium-term hedges of 🔒, and short term hedges of 🔒. This is a good way to protect yourself and participate in the upside at the same time.

You can determine your protection bands by adding cash to hedges. The high band of the protection is appropriate for those who are older or conservative. The low band of the protection is appropriate for those who are younger or aggressive. If you do not hedge, the total cash level should be more than stated above but significantly less than cash plus hedges.

It is worth reminding that you cannot take advantage of new upcoming opportunities if you are not holding enough cash. When adjusting hedge levels, consider adjusting partial stop quantities for stock positions (non ETF); consider using wider stops on remaining quantities and also allowing more room for high beta stocks. High beta stocks are the ones that move more than the market.

Traditional 60/40 Portfolio

Probability based risk reward adjusted for inflation does not favor long duration strategic bond allocation at this time.

Those who want to stick to traditional 60% allocation to stocks and 40% to bonds may consider focusing on only high quality bonds and bonds of five year duration or less. Those willing to bring sophistication to their investing may consider using bond ETFs as tactical positions and not strategic positions at this time.

The Arora Report is known for its accurate calls. The Arora Report correctly called the 2008 financial crash, the start of a mega bull market in 2009, the COVID crash, the post-COVID bull market, and the 2022 bear market.  Please click here to sign up for a free forever Generate Wealth Newsletter.