Federal Reserve
Comparing the Central Bank Interest Rate Paths of the United States, Brazil, U.K., Iceland,Poland and Czech Republic
May 5, 2022
All six of the central banks in this comparative study had interest rate hikes announced either today or yesterday. In none of the cases was the increase the first one of the current cycles. All these tightening cycles represent responses to accelerating inflation caused in large part by external factors like the pandemic, policy responses […] More
Poland’s Central Bank Interest Rate Hiked to 2.75% from 2.25%
February 8, 2022
The Monetary Policy Council at the National Bank of Poland announced its fifth rate increase since October when the reference rate was languishing at a mere 0.10%. Most central banks around the world have been switching priorities, putting more emphasis on containing high inflation, or to put a finer point on it, ensuring that medium-term […] More
Marking Time Ahead of Powell Press Conference
September 22, 2021
The FOMC is expected to confirm that tapering of its bond purchase program will begin in the fourth quarter. The announcement by the Fed and release of updated economic forecasts will be made at 14:00 EDT (18:00 GMT), followed by Chairman Powell’s press conference at 14:30. Earlier today, the Bank of Japan Board wrapped up […] More
Lower Dollar Ahead of FOMC Release
June 10, 2020
The Federal Open Market Committee reviewed U.S. monetary policy yesterday and today and will release a statement at 14:00 EDT (18:00 GMT) and updated forecasts. These will be followed by Chairman Powell’s press conference at 14:30. The 0-0.25% federal funds target will not be changed, but the forecasts, which ordinarily are revised quarterly, will be […] More
Shock and Awe from the Federal Reserve Meets a Skeptical Market
March 23, 2020
A series of statements released today at 12:00 GMT and prior to the North American start of trading represent an extraordinary array of quantitative monetary stimulus (QE) that is likely to surpass the size employed during the Great Recession. The intent is forestall an evaporation of financial market liquidity, to ensure that companies otherwise sound […] More
FOMC Delivers an Unscheduled Rate Cut
March 3, 2020
The Federal Open Market Committee made an emergency 50-basis point cut of the federal funds target to 1.0-1.25%. The announcement was flashed at 15:00 GMT (10:00 local time) and was decided by a 10-0 vote. A rate reduction at the March 18th meeting had been priced into the market, and a further move then remains […] More
Bank of Canada: No Rate Change but Tighter Forward Guidance than Predicted
January 9, 2019
Canadian monetary policy remains in a tightening cycle intended to converge on rate neutrality. There have already been five 25-basis point hikes of the overnight rate target beginning in July 2017 and with follow-up moves in September 2017, then January, July and October of 2018. The big decline in the global price of oil resulted […] More
Three Shocks Slam Global Financial Markets
December 11, 2015
Stocks are plunging and the 10-year Treasury yield fell seven basis points today in response to three developments. Oil prices fell 1.2% to $36.33 per barrel. Commodities were hit by a projection from the International Energy Agency that the global oil surplus will persist for another year. China’s central bank website announced plans for the […] More
Might the Dollar Finally Be Embarking on a Substantial Uptrend?
August 6, 2014
For some time now, the potential for significant dollar appreciation against other advanced country currencies has been widely apparent based on divergent monetary policies and the greater economic vulnerability of Europe and Japan to a geopolitical landscape that’s deteriorating by the the week. If the dollar is has begun a big move, these remain early […] More
Uneventful FOMC Meeting as Expected
April 30, 2014
A statement released after the two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting this week reads almost identically to the prior March 19 statement. The few changes made involved the first paragraph mostly, which deals with the committee’s view of economic conditions. As at the three prior meetings in December, January and March, monthly purchases of mortgage-backed […] More
