BOE’S BAILEY: BANK UNDERESTIMATED ITS FIRE POWER; SEES AMPLE ASSETS IF EXPANDED QE NEEDED

By Laurie Laird LONDON (MaceNews) – The Bank of England underestimated the tools at its disposal in the event of a Covid-sized crisis and sees an ample supply of financial assets should the economy require further quantitative easing. “It looks from today’s vantage point that we were too cautious about our remaining firepower pre-Covid,” said Bank […]

CORONAVIRUS DEALS BLOW TO GERMAN CONSUMER CONFIDENCE: GFK INSTITUTE

By Marco Babic ZURICH (MaceNews) – After improving for three consecutive months, consumer confidence in Germany fell on fears coronavirus restrictions will be further tightened, which served to dampen income expectations. Based on August results, Germany’s GfK institute is forecasting a reading of -1.8 in September for consumer confidence, down from a revised -0.2 in […]

EURO AREA ECONOMIC SENTIMENT SHOWED CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT IN AUGUST

ZURICH (MaceNews) – Economic sentiment for the countries sharing the euro improved further in August, having recovered about 60 percent of the combined decline in March and April, the European Commission reported Friday. The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) rose 5.3 points to 87.7 in August, with industry, retail trade and services driving the increase while […]

FRIDAY WHITE HOUSE SCHEDULE

WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The following is Friday’s public White House schedule: DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FORFRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2020 EDT 11:00AM                      In-House Pool Call Time 2:00PM                        Out-of-Town Pool Call Time 2:30PM                      THE PRESIDENT receives a briefing on Hurricane Laura Oval Office Closed Press 3:50PM                      THE PRESIDENT departs the White House en route […]

STATUS CHECK: DODGING THE HURRICANE BULLET; ACCEPTING NOMINATION

WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The following is Thursday’s status check of developments in the U.S. that can influence economic, health and political outcomes: In the words of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott the Gulf Coast region as well as the northern path inland of Hurricane Laura “dodged a bullet” Thursday with the storm a shade less powerful […]

ECB CHIEF ECONOMIST HINTS AT FURTHER EURO ZONE STIMULUS

By Laurie Laird LONDON (MaceNews) – The European Central Bank may be forced to enact further extraordinary measures to lift inflation toward its target following the shock of the coronavirus, according to the Bank’s chief economist Thursday. “For the ECB to deliver on its mandate [the bank may resort] to additional monetary stimulus,” Lane told […]

ANALYSIS: FED CAN NOW HAVE FULL-THROATED RECOVERY FOCUS ON JOBS

By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The pandemic’s destruction of U.S. employment was not the trigger for the new Federal Reserve policy framework, in the works long before the virus hit. However the jobs crisis is a perfectly appropriate context for the focus on employment. That focus had already become the hallmark of the Jay […]

POWELL: FED WILL BE FLEXIBLE WITH AVERAGE INFLATION TARGETING, ACT AS NEEDED

By Steven K. Beckner (MaceNews) – Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday the Fed will be “flexible” in pursuing a new “average inflation targeting” regime and not use any set “mathematical formula.”  Powell, elaborating on what he called a “robust” new monetary policy strategy framework adopted earlier by the Fed’s policy-making Federal Open Market […]

TEXT: FED’S GUIDE TO LONGER-RUN GOALS, MONPOL STRATEGY

WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The following is the text of the Federal Reserve’s guide to the changes in its longer-run goals and monetary policy strategy that was released along with Fed Chair Jay Powell’s remarks Thursday morning: In the revised Statement on Longer-Run Goals and Monetary Policy Strategy shown below, bold red text shows additions and […]

DATA FLASH: US 2ND QTR GDP REVISED UP TO -31.7%

—Second Quarter PCE Revised Up to -34.1% From -34.6% Previously–Initial Jobless Claims Fell By 98,000 to 1.006 Million in August 22 Week By Kevin Kastner WASHINGTON (MaceNews)  – Second quarter GDP was revised up due to upward adjustments to all its components. Even with the small improvement, though, the second quarter reading remains the largest […]