Deeper Analysis
FOMC Statement: Some Observations
December 17, 2014
The statement released after the FOMC’s eighth and final meeting of 2014 expressed more optimism in labor market trends, deleting the qualifying adjective “somewhat” from improving labor market conditions and replacing “gradually diminishing” with “continues to diminish” in the comment about underutilization of labor resources. Sub-target inflation attributed only “partly” to declining energy prices, meaning […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Dollar Supported by Economic and Geopolitical Developments
December 17, 2014
Plunging Oil Prices: As Fed Chair Yellen opined today, oil prices have declined substantially in a short period of time, surprising the FOMC and most of the financial markets with the abruptness and severity of the the drop. There are numerous and mixed ways that such a change will affect the U.S. and other economies. […] More
Central Bank Watch
Czech National Bank
December 17, 2014
Monetary policy was not changed further at this month’s meeting of the CNB Board. The last cut of the two-week repo rate, a 20-basis point reduction from 0.25% to 0.05%, was enacted in November 2013. A year after that, monetary stimulus was enhanced when a one-sided 27 koruna per euro target was imposed. With the […] More
Central Bank Watch
FOMC Preview
December 17, 2014
In the seven weeks since the late October FOMC meeting, the price of West Texas Intermediate oil has plunged 32.7%, and the 10-year Treasury yield has fallen by 25 more basis points. Consumer prices in the five months since mid-2014 contracted 0.7% at an annualized rate, and core CPI rose only 1.1% annualized, which is […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of Thailand
December 17, 2014
The previous four meetings of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee on April 23, June 18, August 6, and September 17 had retained a 2.0% benchmark interest rate and so did today’s, although the 5-2 vote included two cast in favor of a 25-basis point cut. Officials at the Bank of Thailand released a statement whose majority […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Awaiting the FOMC Statement and Yellen’s Press Conference
December 17, 2014
Stocks are lower and the dollar is firmer ahead of today’s FOMC news and the release of some U.S. data. There’s already been some central bank news in the U.K., Czech Republic and Thailand. The Asian Development Bank bumped projected 2015 growth and inflation in developing Asia slightly lower, and Japanese trade data for November […] More
