Good afternoon on this best day of the week, Wednesday from your Hometown Lender,

Third day in a row with limited (or no) economic data to digest. At least that is here in the US. We did get a glimpse at UK inflation which dropped down to 1.7% and was weaker than expected. That UK inflation along with the bounce we are seeing off the high yields is helping bonds a bit. We are currently sitting at 4.02% and technically, if we can break below 3.99%, the current channel should take us down to at least 3.92%.

Tomorrow is the biggest day of the week for data with the ECB rate decision (expect a .25 cut), unemployment claims (these should increase due to the storms on the East Coast although the forecasts are not showing much of an increase right now), retail sales (expected at .1% and I am nervous about this as it would be an easy beat) and a few other smaller reports. Tomorrow is a pivotal day.

Enough about tomorrow.

National Football League owners unanimously approved Tom Brady and business partner Tom Wagner as minority owners of the Las Vegas Raiders on Tuesday. Wagner, founder of Knighthead Capital, and Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl champ, purchased about a 10% stake in the Raiders. The team has grown massively since it moved from Oakland, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2020. It is now the fifth-most valuable franchise worth $7.8 billion, according to CNBC’s Official 2024 NFL Team Valuations. Brady and Wagner bought in at a $3.5 billion valuation, over a 50% discount, with an equity investment of about $220 million as part of the partnership, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

Stay safe and enjoy the day.