Fed offers hints at potential for early rate hike August 20, 2014 THE FEDERAL Reserve may raise interest rates at a faster pace than currently expected, if the country’s recent rapid growth continues. Minutes from the latest meeting of the US central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said yesterday that “it might become appropriate to begin removing monetary policy accommodation sooner than they currently anticipated” if [...]
Fed minutes: what you need to know August 20, 2014 The Federal Reserve has released the minutes from its 29-30 July meeting on monetary policy. As with the minutes published by the Bank of England earlier today, there was a certain amount of dissent from some of those present regarding the key issue of interest rate rises. From the release: Some participants viewed the actual [...]
Forget “normal” monetary policy: There is no longer such a thing August 19, 2014 AS THE great and the good of central banking gather to prophesise in Jackson Hole this week, they have good reason to reflect on Bob Dylan’s famous song. The times are indeed a changin’. Change has been a recurring theme in monetary policy over the past few years: in the intellectual understanding, in the operational [...]
US inflation hits the target as UK sees a dip August 19, 2014 The Federal reserve will be happy today: inflation in the US was 0.1 per cent in July, down from 0.3 per cent in June. Importantly that puts the annual rate at two per cent, right on the money. None of this is particularly surprising: analysts had forecast the US figures. The Fed's monetary policy decisions [...]
Golf Comment: Heat is on as Ryder Cup deadline looms August 18, 2014 THE RYDER Cup is less than six weeks away and, more importantly for a handful of European players, there are just two more weeks of competition in which to secure guaranteed qualification. At least two of the nine automatic places, based on European and world points lists, are still up for grabs and there could [...]
Forward guidance: A political gambit that has retarded true capitalism August 18, 2014 IT’S A mistake to try and get too precise,” suggested Stanley Fischer last September, shortly before he was appointed vice chairman of the Federal Reserve. “You can’t expect the Fed to spell out what it’s going to do. Why? Because it doesn’t know.” Bank of England governor Mark Carney may now be wishing he had [...]
Janet Yellen to give debut speech at Jackson Hole monetary policy forum August 17, 2014 The annual American monetary policy gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming will get underway this week, Janet Yellen’s first as chair of the US Federal Reserve. The events, which begin on Thursday, are centred on the topic of “re-evaluating labour market dynamics” this year. The Federal Reserve chair typically gives a speech on the Friday morning [...]
Jackson Hole: Home of the annual American monetary policy forum August 17, 2014 ■ The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, one of the US central bank’s regional arms, invented the annual economic symposium back in 1978. ■ But the bank moved hosting the economic symposium from Kansas City after the first few years to Jackson Hole, a picturesque valley on the edge of the Teton Range of [...]
New York Report: Wall St rises amid talk Fed won’t up rates August 14, 2014 US STOCKS edged higher yesterday, as softer-than-expected economic data reinforced speculation that the Federal Reserve won’t rush to raise interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 61.78 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 16,713.58.The S&P 500 closed up 8.46 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 1,955.18, with health-care stocks leading the gains. And the [...]
Rapidly strengthening US job market could feed into wages August 12, 2014 AMERICAN businesses advertised more job vacancies this June than in any month for more than 13 years, according to figures released yesterday. This is the latest in a growing pile of data, which make the country’s economic outlook seem increasingly solid. Firms advertised 4.67m openings two months ago, the most at any point since February [...]