The Kobeissi Letter Profile picture
Dec 19, 2024 12 tweets 5 min read Read on X
Apollo with another HUGE call today:

Not only does Apollo see less rate cuts in 2025, but they are now calling for potential rate HIKES.

Today, Apollo officially said they see a 40% chance of rate HIKES returning in 2025.

Has the "Fed pivot" been canceled again?

(a thread)
The Fed officially made their 3rd interest rate cut of 2024 for 25 basis points.

This marks a total of 100 basis points of rate cuts in 2024 as inflation reaccelerates.

With all key metrics of inflation nearing or above 3%, a new question arises.

Are rate hikes coming back? Image
Apollo makes the case that the economy is strong and growth has been robust.

Over the past 2 quarters, US GDP growth has been 3.0% and 2.8%.

The Atlanta Fed expects GDP growth in the fourth quarter to be 3.2%, well above the CBO’s 2% estimate of long-run US growth. Image
Apollo notes that the strong economy, combined with the potential for lower taxes, higher tariffs, and restrictions on immigration, could spark inflation.

PCE inflation could rise by over 140 basis points due to tariffs, according to Deutsche Bank.

Higher prices are coming. Image
Recent data shows that inflation is already heading higher again.

3-month annualized core CPI inflation is now back up to an alarming 4%.

6-month annualized core CPI fell to 2.5% before rebounding back toward 3% now.

This is BEFORE tariffs and tax cuts are imposed. Image
PCE inflation, the Fed's preferred inflation measure, is trending sharply higher.

1-month annualized core PCE inflation is now at 3.5%+.

1-month, 3-month, and 6-month annualized core PCE inflation are ALL back on the rise here.

Tomorrow's data will show November's numbers. Image
Meanwhile, bond markets are trading like rate hikes already started.

In what Fed Chair Powell has called normal market "fluctuations," something does not add up.

The 10-year note yield is now up ~90 basis points since rate cuts began in September.

Markets are not convinced. Image
Meanwhile, oil prices are surging adding to the case for higher inflation in 2025.

Our premium clients bought the dip into $67, as shown in our alert below.

With inflation rebounding, we are trading.

Subscribe at the link below to access our analysis:

thekobeissiletter.com/subscribeImage
All while the US now has a record $36.2 TRILLION of Federal Debt.

Deficit spending has been highly inflationary and this is coupled with a potential government shutdown.

Treasury yields are rising as the US government is forced to issue trillions in bonds for deficit spending. Image
The Fed is clearly concerned despite the calm image they are trying to paint.

They raised their PCE inflation target from 2.1% up to 2.5% by the end of 2025.

15 out of 19 Fed officials view inflation risks weighted to the upside.

In September, just 3 officials felt this way. Image
So, what does this all mean for investors and for your portfolio?

As we have been forecasting, we expect more volatility in 2025.

These swings will be tradable.

Subscribe now at the link below to gain instant access to our alerts and analysis:

thekobeissiletter.com/subscribe
Lastly, the million Dollar question is if the labor market
can hold up with tighter financial conditions in 2025.

If not, we risk stagflation, the Fed's nightmare.

In fact, stagflation may already be here.

Follow us @KobeissiLetter for real time analysis as this develops. Image

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More from @KobeissiLetter

Oct 22
We just witnessed history:

Yesterday, gold prices fell -5.7%, marking the largest 1-day drop since April 2013.

This is a ~4.5 sigma move.

In other words, such a large move only happens in 1 out of 240,000 days in a "normal" world.

What does it mean? Let us explain. Image
Statistically speaking, gold's move was a near 5-sigma event.

However, in reality, gold has seen a move of this magnitude only 34 times since 1971.

In other words, this occurs in 34 of 13,088 trading days or 0.26% of the time, per @BurggrabenH.

This is EXTREMELY rare. Image
Silver prices were hit even harder.

Silver fell as much as -9% in a single-day and posted its largest daily decline since the 2020 crash.

Gold and silver neared -$3 trillion in lost market cap in just over 24 hours of trade.

But, we cannot ignore what happened BEFORE this. Image
Read 12 tweets
Oct 17
Margin debt is SKYROCKETING:

In September 2025, US investors took on another +$67 billion in margin debt bringing the total to a record $1.13 TRILLION.

Meanwhile, 5 TIMES levered ETFs have just been proposed to the SEC.

What does it all mean? Let us explain.

(a thread) Image
Investor leverage has nearly DOUBLED over the last 2 years.

This marks a similar pace to the rise seen following the 2020 pandemic.

As a % of GDP, margin debt now sits just below the 2021 peak.

Needless to say, risk appetite is arguably at its strongest level ever. Image
Everyone wants a piece of the AI Revolution.

US households’ allocation to equities has hit a record 52%.

This now surpasses the 2000 peak of 48% by 4 percentage points.

The percentage is also TWICE as high as at the 2008 low.

Americans are piling into the stock market. Image
Read 12 tweets
Oct 13
Absolute insanity:

Gold has now officially added +$10 TRILLION of market cap in 12 months, up a massive +55%.

Over the last 72 hours, gold has rallied on EVERY headline, even as the S&P 500 erased -$2.5 trillion in 5 hours.

What's next? Let us explain.

(a thread) Image
Gold has reached a point where the technicals seem to be irrelevant.

Gold's MONTHLY RSI just hit 91.5, marking its most "overbought" level since 1980.

Yet, gold prices are up another +$110/oz on the day today.

Not even 2001, 2008, or 2020 saw a reading of 90+! Image
For a while, it was all about the declining US Dollar.

But, take a look at this.

Even as the US Dollar has rebounded nearly +2% since October 4th, gold prices are up over +5% over the same period.

Gold is so strong that it's defying its historical relationship with the USD. Image
Read 12 tweets
Oct 11
It's official:

Crypto just saw its LARGEST liquidation event in history with 1.6 MILLION traders liquidated.

Over $19 BILLION worth of leveraged crypto positions were liquidated in 24 hours, 9 TIMES the previous record.

Why did this happen? Let us explain.

(a thread) Image
To put this into perspective:

The liquidation event we saw over the last 24 hours was ~$17 BILLION larger than the February 2025 crash.

It was more than 19 TIMES larger than the March 2020 crash and collapse of FTX.

Never in history have we seen anything even close to this. Image
Amid the liquidation, Bitcoin recorded a $20,000 DAILY candlestick.

This marks a $380 BILLION swing in Bitcoin's market cap alone, in a single-day.

That's more than the market cap of all but 25 public companies in the world.

Once again, this has never happened in history. Image
Read 12 tweets
Oct 10
What just happened?

At 10:57 AM ET, President Trump canceled his meeting with China and said "massive" tariff increases are coming.

40 minutes later, the S&P 500 erased -$1.2 TRILLION of market cap.

Is this dip a BUYING opportunity? Let us explain.

(a thread) Image
Here is the statement that President Trump posted today.

He accused China of "lying" and imposing export controls on rare earth metals.

Trump cancelled his meeting in 2 weeks with China's President Xi and said "massive" tariff increases are coming.

So, what does it all mean? Image
Rare earths have been very important for Trump.

Between a Ukraine deal and the US-China trade war, Trump has prioritized rare earths.

These metals are CRUCIAL for the production of weapons, chips, AI, and strategic leverage.

The US gets ~70% of its rare earths from China. Image
Read 12 tweets
Oct 9
This is BEYOND insane:

AI compute demand is now growing at over 2 TIMES the rate of Moore’s Law, creating a massive shortage.

Just to meet current demand, $500 billion must be invested in data centers PER YEAR until 2030.

What does this mean? Let us explain.

(a thread) Image
For decades, Moore’s Law was the gold standard measure of technological progress.

That is: the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles every 2 years.

AI has BROKEN this law.

AI’s compute demand has grown at DOUBLE the rate of Moore's Law over the last 10 years. Image
Compute is quickly becoming the world's most valuable commodity.

By 2028, global data center spend will hit $900 BILLION.

AI servers are growing at a +41% CAGR and the market overall is growing at a +23% CAGR.

This is UNPRECEDENTED growth for the industry. Image
Read 12 tweets

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