Fed

As the bi-winning Fed's chairman prepares to give his first press conference on Wednesday at 2:15pm Eastern Time after the April Fed meeting, which started on Tuesday, stock markets can't wait but started celebrating already. With Volatility Index (CBOE: ^VIX) dropped back close to its 2007 level...

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Federal Reserve's policy-setting body, is scheduled to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. At the conclusion of this two-day policy meeting, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold an unprecedented press briefing to answer questions about the...

The modern Fed has quite a history of blowing bubbles, and doing so even when it seems to be aware of what it's doing. Remember the dotcom bubble in 1999 and the stock market bubble in 2000? In 1998, Fed Chairman Greenspan had already warned of ‘irrational exuberance' in the stock market a year or...

By Phil of Phil's Stock World  What a fun day for debate! Former Fed Chair, Paul Volcker went way off-script in Chicago yesterday and "moved unsparingly from banks to regulators to business schools to the Fed to money-market funds during his luncheon speech.  He praised...

On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve released the FOMC statement on interest rates and the outlook for the economy. The statement sent a clear message to the markets that the Fed was prepared to adopt a more accommodative monetary stance if the outlook for the economy continued to deteriorate....

There is regularly talk about the Fed (or Treasury) devaluing the U.S. dollar, but how do you devalue something that doesn't have a fixed measurement? Specifically, what would the Fed/Treasury devalue the dollar against and how would they go about it? In a recent interview with Eric King, Jim...

Fed pledges to keep rates low for extended period. Business spending on equipment and software is rising. Household spending is higher but is also constrained by unemployment. The FOMC maintains its plan to prevent the balance sheet from shrinking. The Fed also adds that employment has slowed...

  Highlights •The Fed typically provides added economic stimulus at this point in the economic cycle. •We put about a 25% chance of quantitative easing in September, with a greater chance of action at the November meeting scheduled the day after the mid-term elections. •If the Fed does act and...

US stock futures moved up after the permanent sealing of the Macondo well by BP Plc (NYSE: BP). Investors are also awaiting the Fed's decision on the monetary policy due tomorrow. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 41 points to 10,579, those on the S&P 500 added 6 points to 1,...

The Fed has reinvested funds from bonds that have matured instead of absorbing the cash. This reminds Macquarie's Richard Jerram of the “incremental policy shifts” made by the Bank of Japan over the last decade. The bank, however, was not successful in convincing markets of its intentions. "There...

After the Fed indicated a less than optimistic view of the recovery, the movement of stocks is signaling a positive outlook, much to the surprise of traders. Stocks recovered some ground yesterday, after buyers drove the yield lower. The yield on the 10-year slipped to 2.779%. Meanwhile, the US...

China’s decision to let the Yuan appreciate is a drain on global liquidity. While various legislative elements and the treasury have aggressively pushed China to revalue the Yuan, the Federal reserve has indicated that rates will stay low for a while. Unfortunately these policy...

Part platitude, part mindless blather, I’m sorry to break out the following trading-floor ‘truism’: “Correlations hold until they don’t.” It’s a sloppy, shorthand way to reminding yourself about the dangers of being complacent. Much of this on-going crisis is the result of...

At the FOMC meeting on December 15-16, the Fed reiterated its intention of keeping interest rates “at exceptionally low levels for an extended period.” Since the market expected the Fed’s statement, there was limited reaction in the bond, equity and foreign exchange markets. The Fed continued to...