Jul 23
Speaking in a Bloomberg Television interview, noted
hawk Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Chuck
Plosser said the Fed may have to hike rates even as housing
prices continue to fall.
Jul 23
Although he is not pleased with some parts of the
housing bill, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said
it was easy for him to recommend to President George W. Bush to sign a
housing rescue package into law on Wednesday.
Jul 23
Economic conditions across the U.S. “slowed somewhat,” according to
the Fed’s Beige Book on Wednesday. Five of the 12
districts were said to have weakened since the last report six weeks ago,
while Chicago’s economy was “sluggish” and growth in Kansas City had
moderated. The remaining three districts saw slight increases in
activity.
Jul 23
Canadian CPI tops the economic news of the day as markets receive the
Fed’s Beige Book and the Department of Energy’s weekly oil inventories.
In the afternoon, markets will also be paying attention o the sales of
$31 billion in two-year Treasury notes.
Jul 23
Weekly mortgage applications in the United States
declined in the week ending July 18, according to data released from the
Mortgage Bankers’ Association (MBA) on Wednesday, which reported a 6.2%
week-over-week fall in applications.
Jul 23
Economists largely agree that the Beige Book document
to be released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve won’t receive extended
attention from markets, which are more concerned with forward-looking
data. The report will likely say that economic conditions are soft across
the country, with a few pockets of exceptional weakness and moderate
growth.
Jul 23
Rates for both short- and long-term mortgages tumbled last week
according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
Jul 22
The Federal Reserve Board Discount rate meeting
minutes from May 19 and June 23 show that ten out of twelve
reserve banks voted to leave the discount rate unchanged. The Dallas Fed
and the Kansas Fed requested to have the discount rate increase by
0.25%.
Jul 22
Speaking at the New York Public Library, U.S. Treasury Secretary
Henry Paulson said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are vital
to the U.S. financial system, and that he remains confident Congress will
pass GSE legislation sometime this week.
Jul 22
Inflation in the U.S. is “too high” and inconsistent with the goals of
the Federal Reserve, whose accommodative policy must be
reversed, said Charles Plosser, President of the Philadelphia
Fed, on Tuesday.
Jul 22
Canadian retail sales and employment insurance data tops the economic
news for the day as U.S. markets will receive the OFHEO’s housing
market index, along with the Richmond Fed’s manufacturing index
and comments from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Philly Fed
President Charles Plosser (voter).
Jul 22
Less than a week after Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman
Christopher Cox invoked the Commission’s emergency powers to regulate
short selling of certain stocks including Freddie Mac
and Fannie Mae, complaints were surfacing from financial institutions.
The complaints were not because those financial institutions were on the
list of troubled banks in need of shoring up, but because they were
not.
Jul 22
U.S. house prices fell 0.3% month-over-month in May
following April’s 0.8% pullback, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise
Oversight (OFHEO) reported Tuesday.
Jul 21
Speaking in Boston at the Managed Funds Association Seminar on Sound
Practices for Hedge Fund Managers, Acting Undersecretary for Domestic
Finance Anthony Ryan said on Monday he expects GSE legislation to
be passed soon by Congress.
Jul 21
Speaking in multiple interviews over the weekend, U.S. Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson continued to push for his plan to provide an
unlimited line of credit to government-sponsored
enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prevent the institutions
from going under.
Jul 21
According to Scotiabank’s Global Outlook released
Monday, sharp monetary policy easing, a generous fiscal stimulus package
and massive liquidity injections are not sufficient to ward off a
deterioration in U.S. economic conditions as the subprime crisis
continues to take its toll on the economy and government
spending soars to unprecedented levels.
Jul 21
According to economists and strategists, the U.S. housing
market is going to be the top news in the U.S. Along with new
and existing home sales, the Fed beige book and the durable goods report
will provide important glimpses into the economy. In Canada, markets will
pay attention to retail sales and inflation data.
Jul 21
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday morning that the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC,) rather than being
part of the solution to the subprime mortgage crisis, was actually
among those institutions that caused it.
Jul 21
Current Rate: 2.00%
Next Rate Decision: Aug. 5
Market
Expectations: The OIS implied rate suggests markets are 16% priced in for
a 25bp hike at the next meeting and are pricing in a 41%
chance of a quarter-point hike at the September meeting.
Jul 18
Two Wall Street giants and their investors are betting that one of the
Streets most baffling rules of thumb will prevail as the stock market
prepared to open Friday after two days of a bullish market.