Posts Tagged ‘Ben Bernanke’
Thursday, January 20th, 2011
Last week we noted here how Jim Rogers pointed out that inflation was a serious problem in the here and now and not some distant problem on the horizon.
Many analysts believe that all the fiscal stimulus over the past few years along with the printing of money, which is the essence of the Fed’s quantitative easing (I and II) will lead to huge inflationary pressures. But most people expect that in the future, accepting the Fed’s analysis that current inflation is mild or non-existent and are hoping the Fed will rein things in before the inevitable inflation hits in earnest.
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Tags: Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve
Posted in economy | No Comments »
Friday, January 14th, 2011
Investing guru Jim Rogers was in Chicago this week talking about, what else, commodities. But also expressing anger over Fed policy and the money printing policy of the Western world. He is still bullish on commodities but little else as Rogers told a crowd of invited guests of Price Asset Management.
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Tags: Ben Bernanke, Congress, Federal Reserve
Posted in economy | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered a mixed outlook for the economy in a speech today before the House Committee on the Budget. He said that although economic recovery has continued at a moderate pace, “significant restraints on the pace of the recovery remain.” Those restraints include continued strains on the housing market and cuts in employment and construction due to pressures on state and local budgets. Although he noted the slight uptick in employment in May, Bernanke said “a significant amount of time will be required” to restore jobs back to pre-2008 levels. (more…)
Tags: Ben Bernanke, economy, Federal Reserve, interest rates
Posted in economy | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
It’s that time again, when all of the pundits and analysts weigh in with their predictions for the new year, and, as we leave “the aughts” behind, the new decade. The past two weeks have been chockablock with best of/worst of ’09 lists, events of the year, people of the year, etc. (Time magazine’s choice for Person of the Year for 2009, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, actually ties in very nicely with Futures’ January Markets piece, “Interest rate policy: Under pressure.”) The consensus among many pundits is that the coming decade HAS to be better than the one we’re leaving behind. (more…)
Tags: Ben Bernanke, Economic outlook, economy, New York Times
Posted in General, economy | 1 Comment »
Friday, November 20th, 2009
It might have been more than a little embarrassing for President Obama that the U.S. dollar was making 15-months lows just as he was visiting China in part to reassure the Chinese that their massive investment in U.S. Treasuries were secure. China is concerned that the massive holdings of dollars will continue to lose value. But threats of disinvestment holds a knife to their own neck as much as it does ours so they will likely continue to buy our debt.
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Tags: Ben Bernanke, Congress, Federal Reserve
Posted in economy | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
In his speech before the Economic Club of New York yesterday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke expressed some conflicting thoughts about dollar policy. He said that the Fed is “attentive to the implications of changes in the value of the dollar.” At the same time, Bernanke reiterated his stance that economic conditions will warrant low levels of the Fed funds rate “for an extended period.” So it appears the Fed will maintain its low interest rate policy, which, in theory, could keep the dollar weak. This seems like a contradiction in terms.
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Tags: Ben Bernanke, economy, Federal Reserve, U.S. dollar
Posted in Markets, economy | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
Speaking late last week in Washington Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted that rate hikes may be on the way. Bernanke said, “When the economic outlook has improved sufficiently, we will be prepared to tighten the stance of monetary policy and eventually return our balance sheet to a more normal configuration.”
Not exactly a bold statement but a necessary one as it became imperative to say something supportive of the dollar after last week’s weakness. It has not lasted as the dollar made a new low for the move today.
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Tags: Ben Bernanke, Fed funds, Federal Reserve
Posted in economy | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
By now you have all heard that Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the recession is probably over following a speech last week.
Those words probably don’t mean a lot to those who have lost their jobs or those who will soon lose their jobs as the economy continues to shed jobs, albeit at a slower pace than in the heart of this recession.
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Tags: Ben Bernanke, Economic outlook, Fed funds, Federal Reserve
Posted in Regulatory/actions, Uncategorized, economy | 1 Comment »
Monday, August 24th, 2009
While reading over Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments from the symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming last Friday a few things stick out. First, he follows a disturbing trend we have noted here for some time that dates the credit crisis to September 2008 instead of much earlier; next, he supports the popular notion that a slower rate of decline equals growth and throughout he is quite loose with details surrounding certain events. Most disturbing is he takes credit for avoiding a disaster but fails to take responsibility for anything. Bernanke pats himself and others on the back for averting a disaster that 1) he was at least partially responsible for creating and 2) he assured us was not going to happen. Both Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson were on record as saying the worst of the credit crisis was behind us while it was staring us in the face.
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Tags: bailout, Ben Bernanke, Fed
Posted in Markets, Regulatory/actions | No Comments »
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
Transparency is one of the basic tenets of capital markets. Publicly-traded companies have a legal obligation to disclose material facts about the value of their company. Unless the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department muzzle them, that is. The Wall Street Journal reported today that Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis was prompted by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson not to discuss the financial woes of Merrill Lynch as Bank of America negotiated its government-backed purchase of Merrill. (more…)
Tags: bailout, Bank of America, Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve, Henry Paulson, Merrill Lynch
Posted in economy | No Comments »
