Little did observers expect Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s energetic and upbeat account of economic prospects ahead. They discovered, much to their surprise, that underperforming inflation data was brushed aside as she shifted to forecasts tailored to match with the rate stiffening.
Energy markets has been taking a beating with oil and natural gas prices down across the board. For once, the fundamental news flow was ample. The US Energy Administration reported their weekly set of data, which showed a stronger-than-expected increase of crude oil and oil products in storage.
Hu Shuli via Caixin | Balancing between economic growth and cutting leverage has been an eternal conundrum facing policymakers. Nowhere is this need to strike a precarious balance felt more than in China’s money market.
After building-up for several years, the view that the Fed should increase its inflation target has “boomed”. The July 1996 FOMC Meeting witnessed an extended discussion of inflation targeting. Interestingly it was Janet Yellen and Laurence Meyer´s first FOMC Meeting. Interesting because they are the two strong Phillips Curve adepts!
José Luis M. Campuzano (Spanish Banking Association) | Citi flags that the US/Euro Area monetary conditions have noticeably narrowed since the start of the year. Financial conditions have relaxed in the US and tightened in the Eurozone mainly due to the trend in the relative exchange rate.
There is a 100% possibility that the Federal Reserve will raise rates today. As a result, the interest rate outlook won’t be the subject of debate and the interest, more than ever, will be on how the Fed is going to manage its balance sheet. What’s clear is that the Fed’s balance sheet will remain bigger than it was in the past.
Emmanuel Gomez Farias Mata and Ivan Farias Pelcastre | Donald Trump’s populist approach led political commentators on both sides of the Atlantic to argue that the US had abandoned its position at the forefront of global politics. Those same commentators quickly turned their heads to Germany as the country that can — and seems willing to — lead the industrialized, liberal democracies into the 21st century, and pronounced German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the new “leader of the free world.”
Donald Trump is making the mistake of investing in and arming the Saudi regime at the very moment when its foundations are eroding.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Egypt, Yemen and Libya announced on Monday that they were cutting diplomatic relations with Qatar, alluding to this country’s links with terrorism. But how will this crisis affect Qatar’s investments in Spain? It could affect the sovereign funds’ investments in infrastructure as well as in the sponsorship of various football clubs.
The situation for Qatar is precarious, says former US Ambassador Gary Grappo. Its best bet may be diplomatic intervention by a friendly neutral state.