Well, it has not even been a year since the Federal Reserve began trimming its balance sheet. It turns out that the Eccles Building restarted quantitative easing (QE) in the last week, taking on approximately $300 billion in assets. Here is a look at the more than $8.6 trillion balance sheet: Yikes.
Federal Reserve
Federal Reserve expected to slash interest rates by 100 basis points over next 12 months to prevent banking crisis
The upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy meeting will be perhaps the most important powwow of the year. The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by just 25 basis points, although Goldman Sachs is anticipating a 0% move. But what happens after the summer could be critical for the financial markets. Investors […]
Markets now expecting 50-basis-point rate hike at March FOMC meeting
What a difference a week can make. Following this week’s testimony on Capitol Hill from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, the financial market is now penciling in a larger-than-expected rate hike at this month’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy meeting. Investors are expecting a 50-basis-point increase in the benchmark federal funds rate (FFR). Just […]
Yield curve – chief recession indicator – inverts 108 basis points following Jerome Powell hearing
One of the chief recession indicators plummeted to triple-digit negative territory in the middle of the trading week. The popular spread between the two- and ten-year Treasury yields declined to -108 basis points on Wednesday, the lowest level since September 1981. The two-year yield climbed above five percent, while the ten-year yield was below 3.97 […]
Watch Now: Fed Chair Jerome Powell testifies at House Financial Services Committee hearing
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered his semi-annual Monetary Policy Report in front of the House Financial Services Committee hearing. It will be the same thing as the Tuesday Senate Banking Committee hearing: restoring price stability and achieving maximum employment. Anyway, here is the hearing: