The Monday Morning Playbook: Week of September 26

Last week shows that defense is still the name of the game.

Good morning, and welcome to another edition of The Monday Morning Playbook! This week, Beat the Bench officially goes paid, but as a bonus to free subscribers, I’ve put the video above the paywall and on the YouTube channel so everyone can see me break down this week’s report.

Last week: The S&P 500 fell 4.7%, its fourth decline of at least 3% in the past five weeks. No sector was spared, and once again bonds failed to provide a ballast to equity market volatility; the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index is now down 14.1% YTD.

Week ahead: This week is rife with Fedspeak, as multiple FOMC members including Fed Chair Powell will be given the opportunity to further push hawkish rhetoric. Tuesday will see durable goods and new home sales reported for August, and Wednesday investors will receive an update on crude oil inventories following last week’s technical breakdown. The end of the week gives another opportunity for inflation hysteria, with personal consumption expenditures (the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation) and the University of Michigan sentiment and inflation expectations survey all reported on Friday.

So how should you be positioned, and what bets should you be making to beat the bench? Let’s get into it.