(Note: This article also appears at econintersect.com) This week both the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve will be meeting to chart the future course of interest rates! In the U.S. where prior to the recent small interest rate hike ZIRP or zero interest rate policy had been in place, speculation over whether the Fed will raise or stand […]
The Federal Reserve, after raising its benchmark fed funds rate .25% in December 2015, yesterday left rates unchanged! The December increase was implemented despite inflation remaining well below the Fed’s target rate of 2% and in the face of an economic recovery that could be, at best, termed tepid. At the time some speculated that […]
Is the shipping volume at key U.S. ports telling us anything about the overall strength of the economy? Off 10% in September and October, the traffic at the three key U.S. ports may be signaling that retailers aren’t buying and that the economy may in fact be weaker than some think! Could this weakness be another subtle indication that the […]
Will the Fed or won’t the Fed raise its benchmark rate 1/4 of 1% sometime this year or next? That singular question has transfixed and captivated the world’s markets, politicians and corporate decision makers since the ‘great recession’ and the subsequent Fed move to bring the target fed funds rate down to a range of 0-.25%. […]
How will the Fed’s dual mandate of stable prices and maximum employment affect the future direction of interest rates! If and when an important macroeconomic Federal Reserve indicator fails to be relevant but that fact is not fully recognized by the Fed, how will decisions concerning interest rates based on that failed data input impact the real […]
Last week Fed Chair Janet Yellen decided, in the face of non-crisis level U.S. economic statistics, to leave interest rates unchanged at the economic crisis level of 0%! Her rationale was believable for some and hard to understand for others but, for anyone who listened and for those who didn’t, she mentioned non-U.S. economic factors […]
Will the Fed announce that it is raising rates a quarter point at the FOMC meeting that ends on September 17th, or will it stand pat? Inquiring minds want to know, particularly in some of the interest rate and economically sensitive sectors such as investments, banking, real estate and mortgages. But, as I conjectured in an […]
As both an observer of, and participant in the financial markets for 30-years, one trend has remained annoyingly consistent! Focusing on stocks for the purposes of this article, I speak of course about the propensity for business news to incessantly downplay the significance of a bad market and to unabashedly cheerlead a good one. Maybe […]
Confused? The Fed raising interest rates in order to be able to cut them at some point in the future is the rationale I am hearing on the business news! The reason is that if (when) the United States economy heads into another recession, the Fed will have ammunition available to be able to take proactive […]
Whatever industry you happen to be working in, a healthy and consistently growing US economy will likely be one of your most important keys to success! Certainly my business of providing the title insurance for buyers and refinancers of real estate depends heavily on a growing economy, consumer confidence, a vibrant transactional marketplace and available financing […]
