The Federal Reserve's most recent Financial Stability Report addressed what many industry watchers had been convinced of for some time: the commercial real estate sector is in a precarious state. The Federal Reserve Bank...more
Summary - After pausing last month in its ongoing series of rate increases, the Federal Reserve Board today bumped up its benchmark interest rate, the fed funds rate, by .25% to a range of 5.25% to 5.50%—a 22-year high....more
Fed decision week delivered the next 75 bps ratchet up in short-term rates to 3.25% at the top end of the target range, but also an upwards revision in the dot plot to now show a median expectation of a 4.4% fed funds rate by...more
The Federal Reserve will likely raise its target federal funds rate by another 0.75 percentage point as early as next week, according to news reports. Fed officials have already raised benchmark short-term borrowing rates 1.5...more
The Federal Reserve is expected to hike interest rates at its upcoming policy meeting. What do you envision will be the impact of that decision?...more
Treasury Secretary Yellen perhaps inadvertently dipped back into Fed Chair mode for a bit on Tuesday, acknowledging that some movement in interest rates may be necessary to “keep the economy from overheating given the large...more
The Fed’s Open Market Committee meeting broke yesterday leaving rates at near-zero and pledging to “continue buying government-backed bonds at a steady pace as it tries to support the economy’s recovery from the coronavirus...more
Your Federal Reserve update based on Chair Powell’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, including pushing back against concerns that the “economy is on the cusp of running too hot” ...more
A big jump in unemployment claims, as reported yesterday, confirmed fears that a “resurgent pandemic” is challenging U.S.’s economic recovery. Some 1.15 million workers filed initial claims for state unemployment benefits...more
In Washington: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were unable to come to an agreement on a coronavirus relief deal after meeting Wednesday afternoon. The Speaker says the House will...more
The latest on the potential Oracle/TikTok deal includes news that the Treasury Department has added requirements addressing “how TikTok’s data and source code would be handled and secured” to any potential deal that the...more
In Washington - The White House Wednesday signaled it is open to supporting the Problem Solvers’ coronavirus relief bill released yesterday. The President encouraged Senate Republicans to support the deal that would...more
The Fed sought to reassure markets for the foreseeable future on Wednesday by announcing that it plans to hold rates at their near-zero mark until into 2023 as it tries to “coax the economy back to full strength after the...more
In hotly anticipated comments on Thursday—and yes, such a designation applies to a speech on monetary policy—Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell “announced a major shift in how the central bank guides the economy, signaling it...more
As expected, the Fed left rates unchanged at near zero as the Open Market Committee broke on Wednesday but managed to buoy stocks by pledging to “keep supporting the United States economy as the pandemic continues to depress...more
In Washington: White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Tuesday the odds of a “Phase Four” stimulus package “are very, very high,” even if data on output and jobs continue to surpass expectations. ...more
The Fed is expected to hold rates steady as its June Open Market Committee meeting wraps today. Analysts expect that the better-than-expected May jobs numbers won’t be nearly enough for the central bank to suggest it is close...more
Podcasting megastar (and, for me, “News Radio” jack-of-all-trades) Joe Rogan has signed a multiyear deal to bring his “Joe Rogan Experience” show to Spotify, an agreement that “could be worth more than $100 million based on...more
The Fed closed out its April Open Markets Committee by holding rates steady at nearly zero but also pledging to “use its ‘full range of tools’ to insulate the economy as coronavirus lockdowns sap economic growth and throw...more
As the world grapples with the health threat posed by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the secondary threats of the coronavirus—including economic and financial consequences—have come into clear view....more
The global market for credit is estimated to be more than $200 trillion, approximately three times larger in aggregate than the global equity market. It consists of bank loans, sovereign and sub-sovereign debt, corporate...more
HP has officially rejected Xerox’s enhanced takeover bid, again calling the offer “too low” and decrying its “disproportionate[] benefit” for Xerox shareholders....more
Facebook has agreed to pay $550 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit claiming that Zuck & Co.’s use of facial recognition technology violated Illinois’ biometric privacy law. Though the settlement is little more than “a...more
Massachusetts has fined Chipotle $1.4 million as part of a settlement with the restaurant chain over accusations that “it routinely violated [state] labor laws, with authorities estimating more than 13,000 violations from...more
Fiat Chrysler and rival Peugeot have agreed to binding merger terms that, if approved by US and European regulators, would create a “$50 billion auto giant that would rank among the world’s largest car companies by sales”....more