Inflation's Cyclical Upturn and Exxon's Turnaround

In this episode, Scott Slayton, Partner and Chief Strategist at Capital Creek Partners, breaks down two key market themes for the week. Scott connects the dots across ECRI's future inflation gauge, March core PCE, and ISM prices paid, arguing a cyclical upturn in inflation was in place well before the Iran war and that the Fed has quietly moved to neutrality for 2026. He then walks through Exxon's first quarter earnings beat and management's commentary on oil, refining, and chemicals, crediting CEO Darren Woods with a multi-year turnaround in returns, free cash flow, and shareholder value.