Tag: Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen

When Two Women Get Into A Fight, It's Never Pretty

Posted on by The INO.com Team

This morning, Christine Lagarde, the boss of the International Monetary Fund, announced to the world that the Federal Reserve should hold off raising interest rates until 2016. I do not ever remember the head of the IMF ever saying anything like that before.

So the question begets, is she trying to save her own skin by doing a classic political move and pointing the finger at somebody else, in this case Janet Yellen, head of the Federal Reserve?

My advice on this, it's not going to be pretty and the IMF should take care of its own screw-ups (like Greece) before trying to fix the screw-ups in America.

With that said, let's take a look at what's really going on in the marketplace today. I'm going to look at the major indices with the Trade Triangle technology, which by the way is totally nonpartisan and unbiased, and just goes with the flow.

Here's what the Trade Triangle technology is saying right now. Continue reading "When Two Women Get Into A Fight, It's Never Pretty" →

The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

Posted on by George Yacik

George Yacik - INO.com Contributor - Fed & Interest Rates


Surprise, surprise. The Fed isn't going to raise rates in June after all.

While the just-released minutes of the Fed's April 28-29 monetary policy meeting revealed the central bank "did not rule" out the possibility of raising rates at its June 16-17 meeting, "many participants thought it unlikely that the data available would provide sufficient confirmation that the conditions for raising the target range for the federal funds rate had been satisfied."

In other words, economic reports over the past several months haven't come close to giving the Fed comfort to start normalizing monetary policy – i.e., raising rates – without jeopardizing growth, or what little there has been recently.

In the first quarter, U.S. GDP rose only 0.2%, down from the 2.2% growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2014. But economists are now expecting that figure to be revised downward next Friday, possibly to show negative growth. Continue reading "The Waiting Is The Hardest Part" →

Yellen's Gaffe

Posted on by George Yacik

George Yacik - INO.com Contributor - Fed & Interest Rates


Is Janet Yellen suddenly signaling an imminent rise in U.S. interest rates?

At a conference in Washington Wednesday sponsored by the Institute for New Economic Thinking, in an answer to a question from co-panelist Christine Lagarde, Yellen said:

"I would highlight that equity-market valuations at this point generally are quite high. Now, they're not so high when you compare the returns on equities to the returns on safe assets like bonds, which are also very low, but there are potential dangers there."

The Federal Reserve chair also had something to say about interest rates. "We could see a sharp jump in long-term rates" after the Fed starts to normalize – i.e., raise – interest rates, she said.

Her words had the desired effect, if indeed that was her desire. Stock prices dropped around the globe, as did bond prices, driving yields sharply higher. The yield on the 10-year German government bund jumped as high as 0.78%, its highest level in more than five months and up from just 0.08% only three weeks ago. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose above 2.20%, its highest level in two months and up more than 35 basis points in the past month. Continue reading "Yellen's Gaffe" →

Dollar Volatility Coming Your Way

Posted on by Lior Alkalay

Lior Alkalay - INO.com Contributor - Forex


Would you say that Janet Yellen was some sort of silver tongued wizard? After this week’s rate decision the answer might be yes, because otherwise it’s close to impossible to explain how the Fed Chair was able to come across as sounding both hawkish and dovish in the same speech. On the one hand, Yellen dropped the word “patience,” suggesting that interest rates could rise within any future meeting, with most Fed members in favor of a rate hike in 2015. On the other hand, Yellen pointedly stressed that rates would rise slower than previously anticipated and outlined her concerns on low inflation and wage growth. This “impossible” combination of hawkishness and dovishness resulted in dazed and confused markets, and investors it seems are having difficulty deciding which way the wind is blowing at the Federal Reserve, with the hawks or with the doves. Given that, they’re collectively trying to gauge whether the dollar is now a buy or a sell?

Choppy Times Ahead

Soon after the Fed statement was made, it was a stampede of sellers, bulls running out of dollar positions, and the greenback in a nose dive, shedding more than 2% in less than 3 hours. Yet the following morning, as trade opened in London, everything flipped once again; the dollar was higher and ended up more or less where it is was prior to the Fed decision. Continue reading "Dollar Volatility Coming Your Way" →

Are You Prepared For Negative Interest Rates?

Posted on by admin

By:Tim Begany of Street Authority

Last Tuesday, all eyes were on Federal Reserve Chief Janet Yellen. In prepared testimony, she offered a few hints that interest rate increases may begin this summer.

While the crowd is thinking about rate hikes, few are thinking about U.S. interest rates heading lower, or possibly even turning negative.

The idea may seem absurd, but is it? Continue reading "Are You Prepared For Negative Interest Rates?" →