Tag: FOMC

Federal Reserve Still Doesn’t See Evidence of Easing Inflation Pressures: FOMC Minutes

The Federal Reserve doesn’t see much evidence that broad-based inflationary pressures are easing and that 40-year-high inflation will take time to resolve, minutes from last month’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) revealed on Aug. 17 (pdf). “Participants agreed that there was little evidence to date that inflation pressures were subsiding. They judged that inflation would…


Take GDP with a ‘Grain of Salt’, Says Fed Chair Jerome Powell

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell thinks it would be prudent to take the preliminary reading of the second-quarter gross domestic product numbers with a “grain of salt.”   In a post-Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) press conference Wednesday, Powell told reporters that there should not be too much concentration on the initial GDP print since…


Fed Officials Suggest Faster Rate Hikes, Admit Inflation Is ‘Very High’: Fed Minutes

The Federal Reserve plans to move forward with multiple 50-basis-point interest rate hikes to fight inflation, minutes from the May Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy meeting revealed Wednesday. According to the minutes, Committee members stated that the first-quarter economic construction offered “little signal about subsequent growth,” adding that they think real GDP would expand…


Federal Reserve Hikes Rates by 50 Basis Points, the Most Since 2000

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by the most since 2000 on Wednesday as part of efforts to fight 40-year-high inflation. Officials serving on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) agreed to hike the benchmark fed funds rate by 50 basis points, bringing it to a target range of 0.75 percent to 1 percent. Investors…


Federal Reserve Hikes Rates by Half Point, the Most Since 2000

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by the most since 2000 on Wednesday as part of efforts to fight 40-year-high inflation. Officials serving on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) agreed to hike the benchmark fed funds rate by 50 basis points, bringing it to a target range of 0.75 percent to 1 percent. The…


Federal Reserve Boosts Rates by Half-Point, the Most Since 2000

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by the most since 2000 on May 4 as part of efforts to fight 40-year-high inflation. Officials serving on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) agreed to increase the benchmark fed funds rate by 50 basis points, bringing it to a target range of 0.75 percent to 1 percent….


Treasury Curve Un-inverts, Good News or Bad News?

Commentary What “should” have happened last month to the Treasury curve did not. The Federal Reserve, as you know, is in a race with itself to fulfill what are almost certainly politically-driven directives. From the White House through the Halls of Congress, the need for someone somewhere to appear to be doing something about “inflation.”…


Fed Plans To Shrink Balance Sheet by $95 Billion a Month, Employ 50-Basis-Point Hikes

The Federal Reserve plans to shrink the balance sheet by $95 billion a minute, minutes from the March Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy meeting revealed (pdf). Minutes released on Wednesday show that Committee members “generally agreed” on a cap of $60 billion in Treasurys and $35 billion in mortgage-backed securities that would be cut…


Fed Plans To Shrink Balance Sheet by $95 Billion a Month, Employ 50-Basis-Point Hikes To Cool Inflation

The Federal Reserve plans to shrink the balance sheet by $95 billion a month, minutes from the March Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy meeting revealed (pdf). Minutes released on Wednesday show that Committee members “generally agreed” on a cap of $60 billion in Treasury securities and $35 billion in mortgage-backed securities that would be…


‘When Doves Cry’: Federal Reserve Goes to the Hawks

The Federal Reserve is striking a more hawkish tone one week after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised interest rates by 25 basis points for the first time since 2018. If the economic data support a half-percentage-point increase to interest rates, New York Fed Bank President John Williams would endorse the hike. But Williams…