FED’S WILLIAMS: ‘MORE WORK TO DO’ BEFORE FED DECIDES NEXT POLICY STEP
By Tony Mace NEW YORK (MaceNews) – Federal Reserve policy-makers are not yet ready to decide their next policy move, and their thinking hinges on domestic data and global economic conditions, New York Fed President John Williams said Wednesday. “We still have a lot of work to do – there’s more data, including the employment […]
JACKSON HOLE: POWELL STAYS NONCOMMITTAL ON FURTHER RATE CUTS
By Steven K. Beckner (MaceNews) – Ever since the Federal Reserve’s policymaking Federal Open Market Committee cut interest rates modestly for the first time in 11 years on July 31, financial markets have been eagerly waiting to see what Chairman Jerome Powell’s monetary policy posture would be three weeks later at the Fed’s annual Jackson […]
FED’S POWELL: FIXATED ON DATA POINTS IN ‘EVENTFUL’ PRELUDE TO FOMC
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – Key excerpts of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech Friday, “Challenges for Monetary Policy” with boldfaced emphasis added: People who live and work in low- and middle-income communities tell us that this job market is the best anyone can recall. We increasingly hear reports that employers are training workers who […]
FOMC MINUTES SHOW NO PROMISE OF MORE RATE CUTS
–Wanted to Avoid ‘Any Appearance of Following Pre-Set Course’ –Meandering Discussion Struggles for Consensus; Saw ‘Absence of Clarity’ –‘Uncertainty’ and ‘Uncertainties’ Make Frequent Appearances By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The view that the top Federal Reserve policymakers are as confused as everyone else in an environment of sharply conflicting signals – strong domestic jobs […]
FOMC BEGINS WITH CASE FOR RATE CUT STILL NOT CLEAR CUT
–The Boeing 737 MAX Rate Cut? By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – If the Federal Open Market Committee wanted some cover to back out of a rate cut Wednesday it could look no farther than toward the Treasury Department which Monday declared, “Downside risks in the second half of 2019 appear to be lessening.” Of […]
ECB SIGNALS LOWER RATES AHEAD, TO CONSIDER NEW QE
By Laurie Laird FRANKFURT (MaceNews) – The European Central Bank signaled its intention to loosen monetary policy in response to the slowing euro zone economy, adding the possibility of lower interest rates to its forward guidance and pledging to examine a new round of quantitative easing. In a statement issued after Thursday’s governing council meeting, […]
FED’S POWELL REINFORCES THE ASSUMPTIONS OF A JULY RATE CUT
–Fed Wants to ‘Use its Tools’ To Keep Expansion Going By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) Market assumptions of a July 31 rate cut became even more entrenched Thursday with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s renewed assertion the central bank is ready to consider more accommodation in the face of signs of weakness elsewhere in the […]
FED’S POWELL HINTS AN INSURANCE RATE CUT; MUCH DATA YET TO COME
–‘Committed to Using Our Tools’ to Keep Expansion Going By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell came to Capitol Hill Wednesday to emphasize those cross currents of uncertainty still “weigh on the economy” and while never uttering the words “insurance” or “rate cut,” he repeated how important he feels it is […]
BANK OF CANADA SEES UNCERTAIN OUTLOOK ON GLOBAL WORRIES
By Gordon Isfeld OTTAWA (MaceNews) – Growing pressure on the global economy may not have seriously dented the outlook for Canada’s near-term growth, but other factors – such as international trade frictions and lingering squabbles over how to resolve the Brexit crisis – are continuing to contribute to growth uncertainty. “Evidence has been accumulating that ongoing […]
US JUNE PAYROLLS +224K, CONFOUNDING FORECASTERS AND IMPERILING RATE CUT
By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The carefully wrought July rate-cut scenario is now challenged by the blockbuster 224,000 surprise payrolls total for June, with Friday’s report pitting economic pessimists against prospects for renewed strength for the longest U.S expansion in history. Many forecasters who were confounded by a return to 200,000 plus payrolls growth […]