S&P 500 futures up 0.2%, Nasdaq futures up 0.1%

Economic forecasts are getting rosier and rosier

Biz and academic economists lowered the chances of a recession within the next year to 29% from 39% in the January survey--the lowest probability since April 2022

The mortgage payment on a median-priced house at current mortgage rates hit another all-time high

It's double the 2021 levels

So who is still buying a house in this market?

awealthofcommonsense.com/2024/04/who-is…

JPM: 'Though the recent strength in the data has dampened our confidence, we still think that inflation is set to moderate over time and continue to see the Fed first easing in July, with 3 cuts this year'

BIG day for volatility bets --busiest day for VIX options since **February 2018**

One measure of optimism among small business owners fell to the lowest level since 2012 --NFIB

h/t Yardeni Research

Permabears be like

'One notable takeaway from our analysis of data back to 1928 is that average full-year price returns in election vs. non-election years are basically the same ― at 7.3% and 7.5%, respectively ― but the path to getting there is very different...' BlackRock

The hot investment for millennials is…gold

And they’re picking up $2k gold bars at Costco

The average millennial allocates 17% of investments to gold, compared w 10% of gen X, baby boomers

Katherine Hamilton WSJ Markets WSJ Personal Finance

wsj.com/personal-finan…

Goldman: We estimate that net immigration surged to roughly 2.5 million in 2023, the highest level in the last two decades

Gold prices are on a tear

Gained 5% and finished week at a record--biggest one-week percentage gain since October

So just to get this straight, the Fed took away the punchbowl and Wall Street threw a party.

There's a lot we can learn from the teen traders Hannah Miao and I interviewed for this piece

wsj.com/story/teenager…

WSJ Markets

Goldman: We estimate that net immigration surged to roughly 2.5 million in 2023, the highest level in the last two decades