ECB: TO INVEST QE PROCEEDS BEYOND RATE RISE
By Laurie Laird FRANKFURT (MaceNews) – The European Central Bank Thursday confirmed its intention to end quantitative easing at year end, despite marked signs of weakness in the euro zone economy, but stressed a commitment to reinvesting proceeds of previous bond purchases over the medium term or longer. We intend to continue to reinvesting, in […]
US CPI AS USUAL EX-GAS; INFL SIGNALS INCONCLUSIVE
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – Transitory noise from plummeting gasoline prices overwhelmed the broadly moderate gains in November’s Consumer Price Index report Wednesday and promises to do the same in the current month. The “all items” index was unchanged after going up 0.3% in October but the core reading without energy and food was up 0.2% in […]
US JOBS GROWTH MODERATES IN NOV; 155K PAYROLLS
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The November jobs report’s tally of 155,000 new payroll slots Friday was positive news on balance, with 27,000 new manufacturing jobs, despite coming in below expectations. With its moderate but overall broad-based improvement, the latest jobs report seemed to have little scenario-changing import for monetary policy. Wage growth stayed above an annual […]
NO ‘POLOZ PUT’ – BOC GOVERNOR
By Peter Diekmeyer OTTAWA (MaceNews) – Bank of Canada head Stephen Poloz Thursday denied the existence of a central bank backstop if a collapse in Bitcoin and FANG stocks spreads to other sectors. The central bank governor made the comments following a now-annual presentation to Toronto’s business community, which focused on growing financial vulnerabilities. Poloz […]
“SUPER EXPONENTIAL” CHANGE OUTPACES COMPREHENSION
By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – It’s dawning on governments that robots do not necessarily pay taxes and it’s becoming apparent to workers that their future income is in the hands – or probes or sensors – of these same robots as public policy falls to keep up and protect them. Sounds like chaos in […]
BE AFRAID, GDP – VERY AFRAID
By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – What is more basic to an understanding of the economy’s current state than the government’s quarterly report on gross domestic product? A lot, it turns out. That is the premise of a two-day forum being held by the International Monetary Fund which has drawn economic data experts from around […]
UK PM MAY VOWS TO ‘SEE BREXIT THROUGH’
By Laurie Laird LONDON (MaceNews) – British Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged to lead the UK out of the European Union, but her forceful claim to the premiership failed to dispel concerns that she could face a leadership challenge over the coming days. Addressing a hastily-called press conference Thursday, May reaffirmed her commitment to “see […]
US GOVT’S FISCAL YEAR BEGINS WITH STEADY DEFICIT
By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The U.S. government’s fiscal year has begun with the deficit remaining virtually unchanged compared to a year earlier, at $110 billion – at least after adjusting for some special factors – and not yet showing the widening that most analysts say is inevitable later this year on into the […]
FOMC DOESN’T SURPRISE; HOLDS STEADY FOR NOW
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The Federal Open Market Committee Thursday did the expected, held the federal funds rate steady for now, with its statement altered only slightly to say business investment has moderated – without suggesting any reason. The meeting, delayed to place it after the mid-term elections, is to be followed in December with what […]
DEMOCRATS WIN CONTROL OF THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The political earthquake that shook Washington Tuesday night was widely anticipated yet still arrived as something of a shock, as the House of Representatives was transferred to Democratic control, posing a significant threat to the White House of Donald Trump. As first projected by Fox News, the media of […]