Weekly Market Commentary 06/22/2018

The Summer solstice came and went on Thursday, but despite slogging through the longest day of the year, little was accomplished in Washington with regards to settling immigration or trade disputes, issues that have hogged the headlines and dogged the financial markets for the past several weeks. While the still-unresolved immigration debacle has profound political implications, it is the trade rhetoric that is dominating the economic narrative. Even Fed chairman Powell, who downplayed the threat of a trade war at the press conference following last week’s policy meeting seems to be getting more concerned. He noted in remarks to a ECB forum this week that his business contacts are expressing mounting anxiety over actual and proposed tariffs, the implication being that hiring and investment decisions may be disrupted.