Inflation Uptick Is Starting to Send Sell Signals to Stock Bulls

Wall Street strategists are warning the honeymoon period for stocks following a blockbuster earnings season is over and that a harsh macro-economic reality now threatens this year’s rally.

With more than 90% of S&P 500 Index members having reported earnings, investors’ focus is flipping back to the challenges in front of newly installed Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh. Those include oil prices stubbornly above $100 a barrel and back-to-back hot consumer- and producer-price readings last week that have traders now pricing in the potential for interest rate hikes instead of cuts this year.