FOMC statement
Today’s FOMC Statement on Monetary Policy – Analysis
January 30, 2019
Today’s statement accelerated the shift in forward guidance rate directionality away from a one-sided risk toward less accommodation and greater normalization by introducing an element of two-sided risk and less certainty about the timing and number of increases if such should be deemed appropriate. The prior statement on December 19 had added the bolded word “some” […] More
FOMC Statement and Forecasts
September 26, 2018
The Federal Open Market Committee as expected raised its federal funds target by a quarter percentage point to a range of 2.00 – 2.25%. The released statement Repeated the same first paragraph used after the August 1 statement, which deals with economic conditions. Made no changes to the second paragraph that projects how its mandate […] More
FOMC Statement
May 2, 2018
Today’s just-released FOMC statement sets the stage for a rate hike in June. The view regarding economic activity and labor market conditions is as upbeat as in March. The comment on investment is even more encouraging. On inflation, officials as much as say that the target is close at hand. A decision not to change […] More
FOMC Statement
January 31, 2018
The Federal Open Market Committee as assumed by market players decided to keep its 1.25-1.50% federal funds target range unchanged and did so by a unanimous 9-0 vote in the last meeting to be chaired by Janet Yellen. A statement released today at 19:00 GMT characterizes the labor market as improving, economic growth as solid, […] More
FOMC Statement Conveys Little New Information
November 1, 2017
The FOMC statement was released at 18:00 GMT. Fifteen minutes later, key market prices — the dollar, 10-year Treasury yield, gold, oil and the DOW — were barely changed. The message was one of continuity. The November 1, 2017 FOMC statement reads almost identically to the one from the prior meeting on September 20. The current […] More
FOMC Leaves Its Monetary Policy As Is
May 3, 2017
The post-meeting FOMC press release didn’t contain any news to move markets much one way or the other. Regarding U.S. economic conditions, slower growth last quarter is considered “likely to be transitory,” and there’s been no change in the committee’s projection of moderately-paced economic growth with roughly balanced risks. On-year inflation is already just slightly […] More
FOMC Statement Omits Any Definitive Sign that December Rate Hike is Mostly Baked
November 2, 2016
Today’s was a meeting without a scheduled press conference, and the lack of a policy change eliminated any need for a change of plans in that regard. My preview mentioned that the statement might say something definitive about its December meeting; that didn’t happen. In today’s statement, some tweaks were made to the opening paragraph […] More
A More Hawkish FOMC Statement than Some Were Expecting
January 27, 2016
The January FOMC statement is neither all hawkish nor noticeably more dovish than the one released six weeks ago when the first federal funds rate hike since June 2006 was made. Considering the disappointing economic data and wildly tumultuous financial and commodity market movement during the interim, the surprise is that the statement still implies […] More
FOMC Statement and Press Conference
June 17, 2015
Today’s statement and press conference identifies progress toward each of its mandates of full employment and 2.0% inflation in the PCE deflator occurred since its late April meeting but not enough to warrant an initial federal funds rate hike. The funds target range remains at 0.0-0.25%. A map was not supplied to know exactly when […] More
FOMC Preview
June 17, 2015
Federal Reserve officials have gradually modified their forward policy guidance, with three messages in mind: Policy will be data driven and not constrained to any pre-conceived timetable. The first rate hike would not occur before this June meeting but could happen anytime from that meeting onward. Once the first rate increase is done, subsequent changes […] More
