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 […]

STATUS CHECK: HURRICANE, UNREST AND POLITICS COMPETE FOR THE SPOTLIGHT

WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The following is Wednesday’s status check of developments in the U.S. that can influence economic, health and political outcomes: •             The Gulf Coast Tuesday night was facing imminent and massive damage from Hurricane Laura, a category 4 storm with the possibility of becoming even more powerful before ramming the Gulf Coast between […]

STATUS CHECK: CULTURE WAR MORE COMPLICATED AT GROUND LEVEL

WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The following is Tuesday’s status check of developments in the U.S. that can influence economic, health and political outcomes: The conflicted national mood was well represented Tuesday, with the stark warnings from the Republican National Convention speakers the night before of what was described as a choice between “church, work and school […]

DATA FLASH: US AUGUST CONFIDENCE FALLS FURTHER AS CONCERNS GROW

–Confidence in Both Current Conditions, Expectations Drop Sharply–July New Home Sales Jump by 13.9% To 901,000 SAAR, up 36.3% Yr/Yr  –Manufacturing Regional Data Mixed, But Further Services Improvement By Kevin Kastner WASHINGTON (MaceNews) -The Conference Board’s U.S. consumer confidence index fell to a reading of 84.8 in August from a downward revised 91.7 reading in […]

GERMAN BUSINESS SENTIMENT CONTINUED TO IMPROVE IN AUGUST

By Marco Babic ZURICH (MaceNews) – Business sentiment in Germany improved for the fourth consecutive month in August as both current conditions and expectations for the situation in the next six months rose. The Ifo Index of Business Sentiment rose to 92.6 in August, slightly above the median forecast of 92.4 in an Econoday survey […]

DATA PREVIEW: STIMULUS GRIDLOCK, COVID CUTS INTO CONFIDENCE

By Kevin Kastner WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The inability to pass new stimulus measures in the face of rising COVID-19 cases likely had a dampening effect on consumer confidence in August, even as interest rates have hit rock-bottom, gasoline prices are low and with the U.S. stock markets to a large extent having eclipsed their pre-COVID […]