From the Macro to the Micro

The Institute for Supply Management’s gauge of services activity rose to 56.5 last month from 54.4 in October, surprising to the upside and stirring fresh worry the Federal Reserve will continue to err on the hawkish side when it comes to monetary policy. The major U.S. equity indexes all sagged more than 1%, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shedding 2.13% two hours ahead of the close. Crude oil climbed, however, as a G7 price cap of $60 per barrel on Russian production kicked in and China inched closer to re-opening its economy. Andreas Steno Larsen joins Maggie Lake at the top of today’s Daily Briefing to talk about the global crude oil market, the shift back to “services” from “goods” as the pandemic recedes into memory, and the durability of demand. Later, Maggie welcomes Jeff Meyers, the CEO of Cobia Capital Management, to talk about emerging opportunities in small-cap technology names. We also hear from Diego Parilla about a new paradigm based on higher inflation, permanent volatility, and elevated risk. Keep an eye out for the full conversation between Maggie Lake and Diego Parilla, to be released tomorrow. We want to hear from you too – please share your questions, comments, and suggestions! Editor’s Note: Our live chat feature remains unavailable as we upgrade our video player technology. We apologize for the temporary loss of function. But we assure you the upgrade will more than justify the wait. In the meantime, we will be monitoring the comments section. So, in addition to conversing with your fellow community members, please share your questions there.