Fed Officials Rethinking ‘Appropriate’ Monetary Policy After Weak July Jobs Data

– Gov. Cook Calls Jobs Report ‘Concerning’ – Could Mark ‘A Turning Point’ – Cook Also Sees ‘Quite Elevated’ Stocks as Potential Threat to Financial Stability – Daly Fears ‘Softening’ Labor Market; Must ‘Adjust’ Rates ‘In Coming Months’ – Collins Speaks About ‘Wait and See’ Approach Among Economic Players By Steven K. Beckner (MaceNews) – […]

US TARIFFS STATE OF PLAY: New Reciprocal Tariffs Don’t Dispel Uncertainty, Confusion 

–Trump Fires Head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because of alleged manipulation By Denny Gulino  WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – With new reciprocal levies raising America’s average tariff rate to above 18% and the latest jobs and ISM reports raising stagflation fears, the overall era of uncertainty seems to have intensified, not diminished.  The environment of […]

FOMC Keeps 4.25-4.50% Funds Rate; 2 Governors Dissent in Favor of Cut

– Governors Waller, Bowman Preferred Immediate 25 Basis Point Rate Cut – Powell: ‘More Neutral’ Policy May Be Justified If ‘Downside Risks’ To Jobs Increase – Powell: For Now ‘Moderately Restrictive’ Stance Leaves Fed ‘Well-Positioned’ By Steven K. Beckner (MaceNews) – Once again, Federal Reserve policymakers refused to lower short-term interest rates Wednesday in the […]

Bank of Canada Pauses for 3rd Straight Meeting amid Sticky Core Inflation, Resilient Economy and Uncertain Trade Row Impact on Growth, Prices

–BOC Keeps Policy Rate at Roughly Neutral 2.75% After 7 Rate Cuts Totaling 225 Basis Points from June 2024 Until March 2025BOC: May Need a Rate Cut If Slower Growth, Easing Trade Friction Lead to More Controlled Inflation–Governor Macklem: Still Proceeding Carefully, Hard to Be as Forward-Looking as Normal–Mackem: Taking Policy Decision One Meeting at […]

TRANSCRIPT: Fed’s Powell Stays Away From Promises of a September Rate Cut

.WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The following is a rough transcript of Wednesday afternoon’s post-FOMC meeting news conference with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell: Despite elevated uncertainty, the economy is in a solid position. The unemployment rate remains low and the labor market is at or near maximum employment. Inflation has been running somewhat above our 2% […]

FOMC Sees Two Governors Dissent, Favoring a Quarter Point Rate Cut

WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The Federal Open Market Committee Wednesday, while keeping rates steady, saw the first double dissent in decades as Michelle Bowman and Chris Waller, as expected, favored a quarter point rate cut at this meeting. Otherwise, the policy statement made no reference to the likelihood of any future rate cut. It repeated uncertainty […]

Japan Weekahead: PM Ishiba’s Fate Up in the Air After His Minority Government Suffers Setback in Upper House Election; BOJ to Stand Pat as Trade Rows Cloud Growth Outlook

–June Industrial Output Seen Flat, Retail Sales Sluggish, Setting Soft Tone for Q2 GDP Due August 15–June Jobless Rate to Remain Low and Stable at 2.5%, Job Creation Continues for Nearly 3 Years amid Labor Shortages By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Here are the key Japanese economic and political events for the coming week. Prime […]