Markets are getting a bit crazy to the upside now... Clearly the short squeeze gang is on the prowl. Bifurcation - rates separating from inflation concerns. Global economies are getting worse as higher costs are really crimping consumers. A hard look at what is happening around the world. PLUS we are now on Spotify and Amazon Music/Podcasts! Click HERE for Show Notes and Links DHUnplugged is now streaming live - with listener chat. Click on link on the right sidebar. Love the Show? Then how about a Donation? Follow John C. Dvorak on Twitter Follow Andrew Horowitz on Twitter Warm Up - Biden had COVID again (How does that happen actually?) - Market KRI +4 (3 days with cluster formation) - A GIGANTIC walk-back by the Fed - More earnings this week - winners and losers - STONKS - Say it ... STONKS Market Update - JUMPIN' July - big finish| - On not so great news... GDP -0.9% - back to back negative quarters. - China looking bleak - could mean more stimulative measures? - Hong Kong GDP shrank - German manufacturing - you guessed it.... - Home prices in Australia - whooops... ----- Fed walking it back - sending out the DOVES to speak HAWKISH Weird Chart - Odd Curve Odd Chart ABOVE - WHY? - Expectations are that we are near or in a recession - Further expectations that the Fed will raise then have to cut - sometime perhaps in 2023 - Bond being bought - Recession fears outweigh rate hike fears - US still bringing in foreign money (safety play) - NO CONFIDENCE IN ADMINISTRATION Let's look at Global ECO - Hong Kong's economy contracted 1.4% in the second quarter from the same period a year earlier, advance government data showed on Monday, as exports and investments remained sluggish, and COVID-19 weighed on a wide range of economic activity. - Germany's manufacturing sector contracted in July for the first time in over two years, hurt by a deepening slump in new orders that darkens the outlook for Europe's largest economy - - - S&P Global's final Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for manufacturing, which accounts for about a fifth of Germany's economy, fell to 49.3 from 52.0 in June - Australian home prices slid for a third month in July and the pace quickened as Sydney suffered its worst decline in almost 40 years amid rising borrowing costs and a cost-of-living crisis. (Prices were still 8.0% higher for the year reflecting huge gains made over 2021 and early 2022.) - China's factory activity contracted unexpectedly in July after bouncing back from COVID-19 lockdowns in the prior month, as fresh virus flare-ups and a darkening global outlook weighed on demand, an official survey showed. - - - The official manufacturing purchasing managers' Index (PMI) stood at 49 in July, down from 50.2 in June, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Sunday. - Pakistan imports fell by more than a third in July after a ban on non-essentials, the finance minister said on Sunday, adding the improved trade situation will reduce pressure on the struggling rupee. - - - July imports fell to $5 billion, down 35% from June's record monthly high of $7.7 billion -- South Korea's consumer inflation sped up to a nearly 24-year high in July Meanwhile - US Central Bank DOVE - Neel Kashkari, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said the Fed had more work to do in trying to control price increases. - “I’m surprised by markets’ interpretation,” Mr. Kashkari said in an interview. “The committee is united in our determination to get inflation back down to 2 percent, and I think we’re going to continue to do what we need to do until we are convinced that inflation is well on its way back down to 2 percent — and we are a long way away from that.” - ALSO: Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester (voting FOMC member) says inflation is not going to come down quickly; she is seeing "little signs" of progress on inflation; says she must see convincing evidence...