MARKET RECAP

US stocks were up by about 1.5% for the week.

As if the $1.9 trillion stimulus, coming on top a few trillion prior was not enough, Biden is putting the finishing touches on his next proposal, a $3 trillion infrastructure package. So the spending of the monopoly money looks like it is set to continue without a care. Don’t worry, Biden figures he will pay for all of this with higher taxes.

Consumer spending was down 1% in February, mainly due to the cold weather, according to economists. Household income, without the benefit of Federal giveaways, was down by 7.1%. But economic activity is expected to jump higher over the next few weeks and months. Visits to restaurants and hotels are up, and airline activity continues to increase. Inflation remained under control in February. The price index for personal consumption expenditures was up by 1.6% year over year. That was up from 1.4% in January and was the largest increase since February of 2020, but still shy of the 2.0% target. The Fed expects inflation to reach 2.4% by the end of 2021 and then drop back to the 2% target.

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