All Entries Tagged With: "QE3"
Dollar Shows Weakness at Start of the Year
For Wall Street, 2012 began with a bang, as U.S. equity markets rallied roughly 2% on the first trading day of the New Year. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar showed weakness, dropping nearly 1%. On the other side of the trade, the EUR/USD currency pair was strong, as it broke decisively through the $1.30 level. That [...]
Markets Betting on Operation Twist
On Monday morning CNBC reported that in a survey the network had conducted, 70% of respondents predicted that the Federal Reserve would undertake an Operation Twist in the near future. Further, almost 80% of respondents who predicted Operation Twist believed that the Fed would act this week. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is set [...]
Fed’s Meeting May Be Major Milestone
On Tuesday, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is set to meet. That meeting may very well be the most important in years. Although it is highly unlikely that the Federal Reserve will change interest rates, market participants may be looking for the possibility of further Fed intervention. That intervention may take the form of [...]
Fed’s Doves Willing to Do Work
Last week, Charles Evans—governor of the Federal Reserve of Chicago—gave a speech in which he outlined his beliefs about monetary policy going forward in the short-term. Evans may be considered an inflation dove, relatively speaking, as he made clear in his willingness to endorse action despite possible inflationary consequences. “Conditions still aren’t much different from [...]
Despite Inflation, Bank of England Official Wants More Easing
On Tuesday, the consumer price index in the U.K. rose 4.5% on an annual basis, up 0.1% from a month before. The Guardian reports that the increase in the rate of inflation was driven by a rally in the price of energy bills, as well as spiraling prices in clothing and footwear. The rise in [...]
Is Bernanke Out of Bullets?
On Thursday last week, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve—Ben Bernanke—gave a speech in Minneapolis. In his speech, Bernanke addressed the current economic climate and the possibility of further Fed support. In recent weeks, some market commentators have begun to characterize the Fed as being “out of bullets.” Some have alleged that, after two consecutive [...]
Employment Growth Stalls
On Friday, nonfarm payroll data for the period of August was released. The data indicated that the market created no jobs in the past month. Analysts had anticipated an increase of 68,000. Due to the poor report, many market participants may be anticipating further easing from the Federal Reserve or additional government stimulus programs. On [...]
Fed’s Minutes Shed More Light on Division
On Tuesday, the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) last meeting were released. The minutes appeared to show that the Fed is, at present, a deeply divided institution. This has been known for quite some time, as three of the FOMC’s members dissented from the FOMC’s last official decision—a rarity, as such an [...]
Fed’s Evans Sends Commodities Higher
On Tuesday, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago—Charles Evans—spoke in an interview on CNBC. During and following the interview, commodities rallied. Gold spiked nearly 2%, while oil, which had been trading down in the morning session, reversed course and moved into positive territory. Evans’ comments may have been the catalyst that sent [...]
Have Gold Skeptics Been Validated?
After almost hitting $1,900 on Monday, Gold started to pull back on Tuesday, and sharply declined on Wednesday, dipping well below the $1,800 price mark. The precious metal has enjoyed a bull market for the last decade, although much of the action in the price of gold has occurred within the last several weeks. Since [...]
