As most observers expected, the minutes of the July Fed meeting did not give a clear indication of future policy decisions. Two officials argued for a larger half-point cut in the Fed funds rate, while other parties voted not to cut rates at all. The markets’ initial reaction to the release of the…
This week, the Department of Labor released its monthly report on U.S. inflation and the results showed unexpected strength. For the second month in a row, the Core (ex food and energy) rate rose to 0.3% from the prior month. This report showed the largest two-month gain since 2006. On a year-over-year…
As of August 9, 2019, some 450 of the S/P 500 Index companies have reported June quarterly results ( Bloomberg L.P.). According to the FACTSET database (August 9) the S/P 500 earnings for the 2019 year are now forecast at $165.51, some 2.5% above the 2018 figure. Earlier in the year (February 15) the…
On August 2, 2019, the Department of Labor released the monthly Jobs Report. The Report indicated that nonfarm payrolls increased by 164,000 in July. The figure was in line with consensus estimates. The unemployment rate came in at 3.7%, close to a 50-year low. While job growth for May and June was revised…
As expected, on July 31, 2019, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee cut its key fed funds rate by one-quarter of a point. The new range is now 2/2.25%. This decision was the first decrease in more than ten years. Treasury rates adjusted downwards as the 30-year bond yield fell to 2.52% and the ten-year…