Stocks are up today (Dow +73, S&P +8) as global growth sentiment outweighs the “not-a-war” in Libya, fiscal crisis in Europe, Japan’s earthquake aftermath, and declining consumer sentiment. Bonds are slightly higher (10yr Note +3 basis points, FNMA 30yr 4% coupon +12 basis points) despite the stock rally and hawkish inflation statements from two Fed [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Dennis Lockhart’
Fed: Housing Could Weaken As Fed MBS Buying Ends March 31, Renewed Private MBS Buying To Rescue
Below are our excerpts of key elements from Fed minutes from their last FOMC meeting on December 15-16. The excerpts cover the following: Fed’s view on whether economic recovery will last, support for tame inflation even with volatile energy prices, bank standards to remain tight because of commercial real estate strains, and jobless rate likely [...]
Fed Holds Overnight Rates, Acknowledges Economic Pickup (full statement & analysis)
The Fed kept the overnight bank-to-bank Fed Funds Rate target at 0-.25% and Fed-to-bank Discount Rate at .5%. They changed their language ever so slightly about the economy from “likely to remain weak for some time” to “likely to remain weak for a time” and following that by saying they expect fiscal and monetary stimulus [...]
Fed: Overnight Rates Same, MBS Purchases Extended Through 1Q2010
The big news from today’s Fed meeting isn’t that they’re keeping overnight Fed Funds Rate the same at 0-.25% but that the mortgage bond purchase program is being extended through the first quarter of 2010. Same $1.25t target amount of purchases, but the extension gives markets more time to get used to less Fed help [...]
FOMC Announcement: Treasury Buys End In October, Hold Fed Funds At .25%, Continue MBS Buying
Today’s FOMC announcement is below. The highlights are that they reiterated they’ll stop Treasury buying in the Fall to wean markets off this support but continue mortgage bond buying until they hit their budget of $1.25t by end of year–we cover this topic weekly, see ‘Fed Mortgage Bond Program’ articles. FULL FED FOMC ANNOUNCEMENT Information [...]
FOMC Announcement: No Overnight Rate Change, Slight Inflation Bias
Below is the full text of the Fed’s FOMC decision from their two-day meeting that just ended. They kept short-term Discount and Fed Funds rates the same and said that ‘inflation will remain subdued for some time’ but this is a slight change from the April statement that said ‘sees some risk that inflation could [...]
Fed Leaves Rates Alone, Signals Worst May Be Over?
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in March indicates that the economy has continued to contract, though the pace of contraction appears to be somewhat slower. Household spending has shown signs of stabilizing but remains constrained by ongoing job losses, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Weak sales prospects and difficulties in [...]
Fed Increases Mortgage Bond Buying From $500 billion to $1.25 trillion, Rates Could Drop More
Full Fed statement below following today’s FOMC meeting. They’ve more than doubled their mortgage bond buying program to drive rates down. Rates trading lower on the news. FULL FED FOMC STATEMENT: Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in January indicates that the economy continues to contract. Job losses, declining equity and housing [...]
FOMC Leaves Rates Alone, Says They’ll Keep Buying Mortgage Bonds
The FOMC said that they will keep buying mortgage bonds according to their $500b by June schedule and also said they will keep going if necessary. They left rates alone. Mortgage bonds sold off heavily after the Fed meeting, ostensibly because they also said they’d buy long-term Treasuries as well, which contribute to already diluted [...]
