As the Fed has continued to fight the good fight against inflation by raising interest rates, they’ve had to keep an eye on the other part of their dual mandate from Congress – full employment.  With the unemployment rate holding below the long-term average at 3.5%, some might say this […]

When it comes to monetary policy (interest rates), policymakers and their views are characterized by types of birds.   Those who believe inflation is running too hot and want stimulus removed from the economy are called inflation hawks. 🦅 (The eagle emoji will have to do – just like this week’s Fed announcement – relatively hawkish.)  Those who […]

As we all wrap up 2020 and start setting goals and expectations for 2021, the Federal Reserve is no exception. Today concludes the Federal Reserve’s last meeting of 2020 – this is their 10th FOMC meeting of the year. They typically meet 8 times in a year – Even in […]

Yesterday saw the DOW Jones Industrial Average reach its highest levels to date  — 30,000 points. ’s  off to all the policymakers and consumers that made that possible during a year which the words “Next Great Depression” were uttered all too frequently. This final push across the 30k line was […]

Hurry up and wait. For weeks we’ve talked about how large turnout via mail-in voting would likely delay the time between when the polls closed and when the votes are tallied. Here we are – don’t be surprised or anxious. We knew this was going to happen. As we’ve seen […]

The more things change, the more they stay the same. The top three stories in the financial markets this morning should be quite familiar at this point, and today brings not conclusions, but more questions. Federal Reserve Response to COVID-19 U.S./China Trade Relations U.K./E.U. Trade Relations The FED With the […]

Safety First! As we edge closer to the 2020 elections, candidates are looking to do anything they can to fuel their narrative and drive voter turnout in their favor. At the top of the ticket, Americans are looking for a President who will solve problems, namely the ones stemming from […]

The first headline I read this morning was “Stocks pare gains on second wave fears” while the second read “Stocks rally on COVID recovery optimism.” – as they say in Germany, klar wie Kloßbrühe! S&P futures show the market for U.S. equities set to open about a half a percent […]

Happy FEDnesday everyone! Our friends over at the Federal Open Market Committee will conclude their 3rd two-day meeting of 2020 today (the mid-march gathering was cancelled with 5 other unscheduled meetings taking place that month). Investors are not expecting any movement on rates as the federal funds rate (the rate […]

“The disconnect between what the average person sees happening in the world and what they see happening in the financial markets is getting wider and wider”-Marshall Gittler, BDSwiss Global markets continue to rally this week, amidst ongoing civil unrest in the world’s largest economy, as the MSCI world equity index […]