A short piece in Bloomberg this afternoon briefly laid out U.S. president Joe Biden’s strategy for beating possible Republican Party nominee Donald Trump in the November 2024 general election. Sharing a quote from Mr Biden’s campaign manager as cited by Bloomberg: “We are treating this election like it will determine the fate of American democracy – … Continue reading Joe Biden and the word salad that is democracy.
The Federal Open Market Committee is set to meet on December 12-13, 2023 to determine the target range for the federal funds rate. The federal funds rate is the interest rate at which depository institutions lend balances held either at the Federal Reserve or in their bank vaults to other depository institutions overnight. The current … Continue reading The federal funds rate: In the end, is it not about supporting the banking system?
The takeaway … Two times a year, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System heads up to Capitol Hill to deliver a semi-annual report on the state of U.S. monetary policy to both chambers of Congress. You can almost guarantee that at least two representatives or two senators will ask … Continue reading Jerome Powell simply chooses not to opine on fiscal policy. Congress chooses not to read the Fed’s reports.
The takeaway … I like to take a common man approach to understanding what is happening at the Federal Reserve, at least I try to. We hear all the academic and political explanations for why the Federal Reserve System exists, how it came about, etcetera, etcetera. Last night during the GOP presidential primary debates held … Continue reading Federal Reserve’s true dual mandate: No central bank in its right mind wants to reduce inflation.
The takeaway … The election is one year away, and President Joe Biden has some work to do. According to a The New York Times/Sienna College poll, Mr Biden is losing to Donald Trump in five of six pivotal states. Should forecasts hold, Mr Trump could very well carry the Electoral College by at least … Continue reading Why hasn’t Biden passed off to the Fed the blame for economic uncertainty?
The takeaway … Back on 25 October 2023, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System voted to reduce the cap on the interchange fee, a fee received by debit card issuers. 12 CFR 235.2(j) defines the interchange fee as “any fee established, charged, or received by a payment card network and paid by … Continue reading A reduction in the interchange fee cap may not hurt debit card transactions activity….
The takeaway … I listened to Jerome Powell’s press conference held yesterday after the release of the Federal Open Market Committee’s decision on the federal funds target range. The FOMC decided to maintain the target range at 5.25% to 5.50% by keeping its administered rates, the discount window and the interest on reserve balances, at … Continue reading No surprises as the Fed keeps rates the same. If there is a pivot, it is coming from the media not the Fed…
At 10:06 am as President Joe Biden began delivering remarks from Tel Aviv, the EUR/USD was 1.05475 and GBP/USD was 1.21622. Mr Biden reiterated that the United States supported Israel; that the Jewish state would not stand alone. Mr Biden also noted that the United States saw no higher priority than getting back American hostages. … Continue reading Biden supports a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
How do you as a market maker extract energy from the political economy? First, under your role within the State. You are the State. Bankers, lawyers, traders, and commodities owners and producers are the State. Within this group is held the philosophy and narrative for the extortion of the underlying political economy. When I say … Continue reading Market makers: How do you extract energy from the economy?
Lawyers Write the Bets. Bankers Sell the Bets. 