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October 2, 2024
The Federal Reserve finally pulled its monetary trigger, dropping the fed funds rate by an aggressive 0.50% on September 18th, bringing its current target range to 4.75% - 5.00%. In its policy statement, the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) said that its decision was the result of progress on...
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September 24, 2024
Nary a day goes by when I’m not confronted with a radio or TV ad touting the merits of, and urgency to invest in gold and other precious metals. I can even buy it in my IRA. “Don’t delay, call now!” The message, often delivered by well-known celebrities, is similar each time. “Geo-political turmoil...
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September 10, 2024
Recent data evidencing further declines in inflation along with softening labor markets raised the odds that the Federal Reserve will lower the fed funds rate during its next meeting scheduled for September 17-18. There is debate whether the cut will be ¼ or ½ percentage point, with odds-makers...
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August 5, 2024
The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) moved from a credit-tightening policy to a credit-neutral, wait-and-see position about a year ago and has been monitoring the data ever since. It’s been trying to gauge the effectiveness of its prior eleven interest rate hikes in reducing demand...
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July 5, 2024
Almost a year ago on July 26, 2023, the Federal Reserve raised the fed funds rate for the 11th and what many believe to be the last time in the current credit tightening cycle. Beginning in March 2022, short-term rates rose from 0.00% to 5.50%, culminating in one of the fastest rate-increases of...
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May 22, 2024
When the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed above 40,000 recently it reminded me of an incident from years ago. Sometime in the mid-1990s I had the pleasure of speaking to the Rotary Club of McComb, a large and attentive group. The DJIA, a collection of 30 industry leading companies, had...