Commentary On Dec. 15, Federal Open Market Committee Chairman Jerome Powell announced a doubling of its balance sheet taper. While this decision was largely anticipated by the markets, as Powell recently testified before Congress that the FOMC would likely end its balance sheet taper a few months early, Powell seemed a bit nervous. The Fed…
The Fed Will Break the Economy
Commentary Last week, the Fed was handed an unexpected gift as first-time jobless claims fell to the lowest level since 1969, which gives the Federal Reserve the green light to continue tapering its $120 billion monthly purchases of U.S. Treasury and mortgage-backed securities. Given the Fed’s dual mandate of maximum employment and stable prices, low…
Accelerate Tapering of Asset Purchases and Tighten Monetary Policy: IMF
The U.S. Federal Reserve should speed up the elimination of its bond-buying program and tighten its monetary policy to rein in the inflationary pressures facing the country, said the International Monetary Fund on Friday. “We see grounds for monetary policy in the United States—with gross domestic product close to pre-pandemic trends, tight labor markets, and…
The Truth About Taper
Commentary On Nov. 3, the Federal Open Market Committee indicated the economy had met the committee’s targets to begin reducing the pace of its U.S. Treasury and mortgage-backed security purchases by $15 billion per month. While history has shown that Treasury yields fall while the Fed is engaged in a balance sheet taper, the market…
Markets Expected to Sustain Record Rally Despite Fed Tapering
New Analysis The Federal Reserve finished its much-anticipated two-day November Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy meeting Wednesday. The results were everything financial markets had anticipated, market strategists said. Later this month, the central bank confirmed, the Fed will begin tapering its $120-billion-a-month asset-buying program, with plans to wind down the pandemic-era quantitative easing program by…
Mortgage Demand Drops to Two-Month Low: Mortgage Bankers Association
The number of applications for home mortgages dropped last week to the lowest level since mid-July, dampened by a decline in refinancing activity and, to a lesser extent, reduced purchase applications, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Total mortgage application volume fell 1.9 percent last week from the week prior, according to MBA’s composite index…
Mortgage Demand Drops to 2-Month Low: Mortgage Bankers Association
The number of applications for home mortgages dropped last week to the lowest level since mid-July, dampened by a decline in refinancing activity and, to a lesser extent, reduced purchase applications, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Total mortgage application volume fell 1.9 percent last week from the week prior, according to MBA’s composite index…
Weak Jobs Report Could Cool Fed’s Tapering Plans
Friday’s lackluster non-farm payrolls report, which showed American employers adding far fewer jobs in August than expected, is likely to cool enthusiasm among Federal Reserve policymakers for a quick roll-back of stimulus, some experts believe. The Labor Department’s jobs report, released Sept. 3, shows that non-farm payroll employment rose by 235,000 in August, down from an upwardly…
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