Fed Chairman Powell
Powell’s Hawkish Message Received Along With Some Data Surprises
March 8, 2023
TINA is the acronym for there-is-no-alternative, and that is the unflinching stance that the Federal Reserve wants to convey regarding its priority to restore in-target two percent inflation whatever such takes. In day one of Chairman Powell’s semi-annual testimony before congress yesterday, that message was expressed more forcefully than before including the surprise hint that […] More
Month-End, Powell’s Speech, and a Whole Lot of Released Data to Digest
November 30, 2022
Investors are awaiting Fed Chairman Powell’s luncheon speech today at the Brookings Institution, scheduled to start at 13:30 EST (18:30 GMT). The last business day of each month typically offers a very heavy menu of released data. November saw the biggest monthly drop in the dollar in over a decade, as long-term interest rates fell […] More
Financial Markets Bracing for More Aggressive Interest Rate Hikes by Fed and Other Central Banks
March 23, 2022
Investors increasingly are in an Armageddon state of mind. The question being considered is “what if,” and it is being applied in several directions. What happens if Putin resorts launches crippling cyber attacks on infrastructure systems in the United States and its allies, or resorts to weapons of mass destruction, whether chemical, biological or nuclear? […] More
Sovereign Debt Yields Climb Higher around the World After Powell Suggests Bigger Incremental Tightenings May Be Coming
March 22, 2022
Ten-year sovereign debt yields rose today by five basis points in the United States, four bps in Germany, and three bps in France and Italy. Chairman Powell sees a possible need for individual increases in the federal funds rate that exceed 25 basis points. Many other central banks have already been doing that, and speculation […] More
Awaiting Powell Confirmation Hearing and a Disturbing Covid Data Point
January 11, 2022
There’s been no significant developments on the economic data front today. Investors are looking ahead to tomorrow’s data menu featuring U.S. consumer prices, Chinese CPI and PPI, Euroland industrial production and the Japanese current account and economy watchers index. The market’s immediate focus now is on Fed Chairman Powell’s confirmation hearings today before the Senate […] More
Hawkish Remark from Powell and Plenty of More Data to Absorb as December Kicks Off
December 1, 2021
Fed Chairman Powell signaled that a faster tapering of Fed quantitative stimulus will be considered at this month’s FOMC meeting. The U.S. economy is showing resilience, and the risk is rising of higher inflation expectations. The dollar dipped 0.1% on a weighted basis overnight. Equities, 10-year sovereign debt yields, and the prices of oil and […] More
Marking Time as Drama at Jackson Hole and Kabul Unfold
August 26, 2021
The St. Louis and Kansas City Federal Reserve District presidents, who represent predominately Republican regions of the United States, publicly expressed their personal desires to see quantitative tapering begin this autumn, and Bullard of St. Louis added his hope that an interest rate hike be done before the end of 2022. The annual central banking […] More
Watching China and Central Banks
July 15, 2021
The U.S. dollar edged slightly higher overnight, with gains of 0.4% against the Australian and New Zealand currencies, 0.3% versus the euro, and 0.1% relative to the Swiss franc, loonie, and DXY weighted index. Alternatively, the dollar slipped 0.2% against the Chinese yuan and 0.1% versus sterling, while dollar/yen stayed steady. Share prices had climbed […] More
Watching Stocks, Long-Term Interest Rates, and Events on Capitol Hill
February 23, 2021
Futures trading on the Nasdaq, which fell over 300 points yesterday, are down an additional 1.4% this Tuesday. The half-percentage point rise in the U.S. ten-year Treasury yield since mid-December reflects speculation that inflation and growth may be stronger than assumed later this year but not so much so as to provoke the Fed into […] More
Focus in Last Week of February to Be on U.S. Economic Policy
February 22, 2021
U.S. stock futures this Monday point to a lower open, with the S&P index down 0.8% and the Nasdaq off 1.4%. Share prices closed down 1.5% in China, 1.2% in New Zealand, 1.1% in Hong Kong and 0.9% in South Korea, while in Europe, equities are thus far down 0.5% or more in the U.K., […] More
