STATUS CHECK: THEN AND NOW, A DAY THAT SHOWS AMERICA TO ITSELF

WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The following is Friday’s status check of developments in the U.S. that can influence economic, health and political outcomes: Friday night and another typical week passes into history, but not before President Trump compared himself to Winston Churchill. He said he was not lying. He was advising the country to, “Keep calm […]

DATA PREVIEW: IS IT TOO EARLY TO CARE ABOUT 2023?

By Kevin Kastner WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The upcoming week’s key events are concentrated into the middle of the week, with Wednesday’s FOMC meeting the highlight. While it is doubtful that the meeting will produce anything earth-shattering, it should confirm the shift in attention toward improving the employment situation and supporting the economic recovery rather than […]

FOMC PREPARES FOR FIRST MEETING IN NEW MONETARY FRAMEWORK ERA

By Steven K. Beckner (MaceNews) – There was very little chance the Federal Reserve was going to raise interest rates anytime soon but, just to make sure, the Fed’s rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee gave itself a dual justification for holding rates down indefinitely with the new monetary policy framework it announced on Aug. 27 […]

ECB’S LANE: BASELINE FORECASTS BASED ON WIDESPREAD COVID JAB BY END-2021

By Laurie Laird LONDON (MaceNews) – The most recent ECB economic forecasts assume that a vaccine to combat Covid-19 virus could be available by the end of next year, according to the central bank’s chief economist, Philip Lane Friday.  The “baseline” estimates assume that “maybe a vaccine will be found by the middle of next […]

BOC’S MACKLEM Q&A: AS BANK ASSESSES ASSET PURCHASES, ‘COULD BE MORE, COULD BE LESS’

NEW YORK (MaceNews) – Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem Thursday said the bank’s “recalibration” of its asset purchases means it will consider adjusting the scale of its buying, and the maturities of its debt purchases. Macklem, speaking at a press conference, was asked to explain the bank’s recent statements that it will “recalibrate” its large-scale asset […]

BOC’S MACKLEM REPEATS: QE TO STAY UNTIL RECOVERY WELL UNDER WAY, TO CALIBRATE AS NEEDED

NEW YORK (MaceNews) – Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem repeated Thursday the bank will keep its extraordinary monetary policy measures in place, and will calibrate its asset purchases as needed to support the recovery and meet its inflation target. Echoing language from the bank’s Wednesday policy announcement when policy-makers kept rates on hold, Macklem […]

ECB ‘MONITORING’ EURO STRENGTH; UPGRADES 2020 GDP FORECAST

— Rate on Hold After Latest Governing Council Meeting By Laurie Laird LONDON (MaceNews) – The European Central Bank discussed the recent appreciation of the single currency at its latest governing council meeting, but declined to specify the risks of sustained euro strength to the nascent economic recovery. The governing council made a rare passing […]

TEXT: ECB POLICY STATEMENT

FRANKFURT (MaceNews) – The following is the text of Thursday’s European Central Bank policy statement: At today’s meeting the Governing Council of the ECB took the following monetary policy decisions: (1) The interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged […]

TEXT: BANK OF CANADA LEAVES KEY RATE UNCHANGED

NEW YORK (MaceNews) – The following is the text of Wednesday’s Bank of Canada rate policy decision: The Bank of Canada today maintained its target for the overnight rate at the effective lower bound of ¼ percent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly ½ percent and the deposit rate is ¼ percent. The Bank is also continuing its quantitative […]

STATUS CHECK: AN UNEXPECTED SILVER LINING IN A TRUMP TWEET

WASHINGTON (MaceNews) –-The following is Friday’s status check of developments in the U.S. that can influence economic, health and political outcomes: A week of many parts, – some scary, some absurd, some mystifying – and yet only a very few worth holding on to, with meaning for the future. That narrows it down to Tuesday’s […]