Central Bank Watch
Yellen’s Press Conference
March 15, 2017
Over the hour and twenty minutes between the released FOMC statement with accompanying projections and the end of Chair Janet Yellen’s press conference, the ten-year Treasury yield fell seven basis points and the dollar dropped 0.9% against the yen and 0.6% relative to the euro. On the other hand, the prices of both Comex gold […] More
Central Bank Watch
FOMC Statement & Projections
March 15, 2017
The FOMC hiked its fed funds rate target 25 basis points to 0.74-1.0%. There was a single dissent, Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari, who favored no change. The released statement is similar to the prior one. Business investment was upgraded, and the statement acknowledges that the desired level of inflation has been reached, so the goal […] More
Central Bank Watch
Central Bank of Iceland
March 15, 2017
The seven-day Icelandic deposit rate was left at 5.0%. Reductions of 50 basis points last August and 25 bps in December reversed two increases that had been engineered in August and November of 2015. A statement released today by the monetary policy committee called the stance “tight,” which it is juxtaposed against a 1.9% on-year […] More
Deeper Analysis
FOMC Preview
March 15, 2017
Over the past six weeks since the last FOMC policy announcement on February 1, the dollar has appreciated marginally more than 1.0% against the euro and yen, and the 10-year Treasury yield is advanced 9 basis points. Whereas these changes tighten monetary conditions, a 9% net decline in oil prices and a 5% rise in […] More
Uncategorized
Lots of U.S. Data and a Yellen Press Conference This Ides of March
March 15, 2017
The Federal Reserve will release new macroeconomic forecasts and is expected to raise the fed funds target at 18:00 GMT, and the press conference begins a half hour later. The dollar softened overnight by 0.6% against the peso, 0.5% versus sterling, 0.4% relative to the New Zealand and Australian dollars, 0.3% vis-a-vis the loonie and […] More
