Macro Briefing: 15 February 2024

* US stock market rally still long way from irrational exuberance: SocGen analysts
* Immigration wave delivers economic windfall for US–at a price
* Nvidia passes Alphabet in market cap to become 3rd most valuable US firm
* Japan economy unexpectedly fell in fourth quarter
* UK economy contracted in fourth quarter
* Bitcoin market cap regains $1 trillion market cap after latest rally
* US mortgage rates are rising again, taking a toll on housing demand
* US 10-year Treasury yield dips for first time in over a week:

The US stock market (S&P 500 Index) rebounded on Wednesday following the sharp loss on Tuesday. Fundstrat’s Tom Lee says a reliable sign that the market has peaked will arrive when the market slides on good economic news, which wasn’t the case in Tuesday’s decline, which was triggered by higher-than-expected inflation data. “As the adage goes, we will peak when we ‘sell-off on good news’ — we are watching for a top, but this sell-off seems too consensus,” he advises. For now he says: “There is just too much dry powder on the sidelines. Thus, we think this sell-off dip will be bought.”