Tag: Federal Reserve System

Legal filings detailing how Stephen Moore, Donald Trump’s pick for a Federal Reserve board seat, was found in contempt of court have been hidden from the public following a report by the Guardian. The entire file on Moore’s divorce was sealed by a court order on Monday in response to a request from Moore’s ex-wife, according to a clerk at Fairfax county circuit court in Virginia. CNBC first reported the file had been sealed. Documents from the file were copied by a Guardian reporter last week at the courthouse before the request to seal was made. If Moore is formally nominated he must be confirmed by the US Senate. This prompted the judge to order the sale of his house to satisfy the debt in 2013. In a signed response from April 2011, Moore said that he “admits all allegations” in his ex-wife’s divorce complaint. Moore said: “Allison Moore and I were married for 19 years and have three wonderful sons whom we have co-parented. Our divorce was settled amicably many years ago and we remain on friendly terms to this day. I am happy to speak to the media on any matters related to the economy or my views on the Fed.” Allison Moore said: “Steve Moore and I reconciled through our divorce many years ago and we would hope the media would respect our privacy.

Good Friday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today. _____________________ • The Federal Reserve has halted rate increases. Tax cuts and tariffs have taken hold. Attempts to rewrite the global rules of trade are underway. President Trump got what he wanted on the economy — but it may not last, and the president must now prove the naysayers wrong about the future. • The first House Intelligence Committee hearing since the special counsel completed his report began with Republicans demanding the resignation of Adam B. Schiff, the committee’s chairman. It only went downhill from there. It’s the first case where the United States asserted that foreign control of a social media app could have national security implications. • In a case that exposed the government’s embarrassing failure to secure its secrets, a 54-year-old former National Security Agency contractor pleaded guilty to taking secret documents home in a deal likely to put him in prison for nine years.

The Fed now expects 2.1 percent growth this year, down from the 2.3 percent it forecast in December — and more than a percentage point less than the 3.2 percent growth the White House predicts. Forecasts released at the end of the two-day meeting show the typical member of the Federal Open Market Committee now expects not to raise rates at all this year, an abrupt halt to what had been five consecutive quarters of rate increases to the current range of 2.25 to 2.5 percent. In December, when forecasts were last released, Fed officials said they expected two rate increases this year and another in 2020. By signaling it will not raise rates without a clear change in conditions, the Fed is effectively giving Mr. Trump what he wants from monetary policy, but with a twist. The 1.9 percent growth the Fed now expects in 2020 is down from a 2 percent forecast in December. In December, the lowest forecast was 2 percent for the year. White House officials see growth staying above 3 percent for the next few years, provided Mr. Trump can continue implementing his economic agenda, including another round of tax cuts, a $1 trillion infrastructure plan and additional deregulation. None expected a rate cut. Fed officials also announced that they would end an effort to slim the central bank’s massive holdings of government-backed securities in September, after slowing it down in May. They said the total holdings on the balance sheet once the wind-down ends “will likely still be somewhat above the level of reserves necessary to efficiently and effectively implement monetary policy.” Carrying a larger-than-expected balance sheet — and operating with interest rates at what remain historically low levels — could hinder the Fed in battling an economic downturn in the near future.

The Federal Reserve hiked the nation's borrowing rate by 0.25 percent for the fourth time this year despite attacks from the president. » Subscribe to MSNBC: http://on.msnbc.com/SubscribeTomsnbc About: MSNBC is the premier destination for in-depth analysis of daily headlines, insightful…

It really might be different this time, because of changes in politics and media since the last recession. Social media has changed American political culture. My Bloomberg Opinion colleague Tyler Cowen has argued that extreme rhetoric like Trump’s attacks on the Fed will outlast this president. Already, in the wake of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, it’s not uncommon to hear calls from the left seeking radical changes to the Supreme Court. Whenever the next recession occurs, social media, populism, outrage culture and fake news will play a prominent role in telling its story. The oldest members of the millennial generation were still early in their careers during the crisis; now millennials have a much more prominent voice in media, particularly online. Women and people of color are more influential online as well. It’s unlikely that Wall Street-favoring white men will have anything close to the share of influence during the next downturn that they had in the last one. We’ve seen signs in recent years that corporations are becoming more sensitive to populist movements as well. Corporations have found themselves having to pick sides in some of the culture wars that have become amplified since Trump became president, and some of the minimum wage increases we’ve seen from large corporations have been precipitated in part by movements like Fight for $15.

It really might be different this time, because of changes in politics and media since the last recession. Social media has changed American political culture. My Bloomberg Opinion colleague Tyler Cowen has argued that extreme rhetoric like Trump’s attacks on the Fed will outlast this president. Already, in the wake of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, it’s not uncommon to hear calls from the left seeking radical changes to the Supreme Court. Whenever the next recession occurs, social media, populism, outrage culture and fake news will play a prominent role in telling its story. The oldest members of the millennial generation were still early in their careers during the crisis; now millennials have a much more prominent voice in media, particularly online. Women and people of color are more influential online as well. It’s unlikely that Wall Street-favoring white men will have anything close to the share of influence during the next downturn that they had in the last one. We’ve seen signs in recent years that corporations are becoming more sensitive to populist movements as well. Conor Sen is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist.

Good Friday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today. • Scrambling to protect their House majority ahead of the midterms, Republicans are abandoning weaker candidates and building a firewall around races they deem winnable. • “We don’t like it,” Mr. Trump said in an interview with Fox & Friends of the suspicion that Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist, was lured to a Saudi Consulate in Turkey and killed. • Prices for the most popular type of health insurance under the Affordable Care Act will drop slightly next year in the federal marketplace, after several years of rapid increases. • More than 50,000 Georgia voter registrations were placed on a “pending” list ahead of the state’s election for governor. The Republican nominee, who is also the secretary of state, has denied accusations of intentional voter suppression. • “Our trauma is a talking point for their gubernatorial aspirations,” said Nayyirah Shariff, one of the many Flint, Mich., residents still contending with extreme daily challenges as the race for governor nears its end. • “They won’t do it without our approval,” Mr. Trump said on Wednesday about South Korea’s suggestion that it might ease some sanctions against North Korea. • Ahead of another round of sanctions on Iran, the Trump administration warned the world’s banks that Tehran might try to use duplicitous means to duck the sanctions and continue to fund terrorism.

Reuters As a financial adviser who works with wealthy clients, I have seen just how hard it has become in recent years for many people to separate their politics from their investments. The occupant of the White House during the Reagan, Bush (41), Clinton, and Bush (43) years did not elicit the same response from clients as we’ve seen during this administration. In some cases, those conversations spanned several quarters as many wanted to stay in cash in an economic environment that just didn’t make sense to them, while others impulsively gravitated to gold and precious metals in large part due to the barrage of advertisements on talk radio and television hitting their mark in making investors believe they were secure. Those were tricky conversations compounded by the fact that the economy was coming off what felt like the most painful run in our lifetimes, and I certainly couldn’t make any guarantee that the economy would fully recover. At the same time, my politically liberal clients felt emboldened with their money: Stability had seemingly been restored, health care was about to go through a renaissance and, with their party in power, they felt assured the U.S. stock market looked very investible coming off of those generational lows. Those eight years rewarded investors who stayed the course well and gradually even the people with the strongest opinions came to realize that their views were not necessarily in line with the market. The potential cultural effects of the election of President Donald Trump were hard for many to grasp, but when it came to investing, the outcome had a huge impact on the general attitudes of many of my clients. To them, the work of the Obama years was being threatened as financial and environmental regulations were about to be pushed aside, along with Obama’s signature accomplishment, the Affordable Care Act. Politicization of investing Investing behavior wasn’t always so influenced by politics. In the end, how your investments behave is much less important than how you behave.” It may not always be easy, but going forward, I’ll continue to encourage my clients to adopt a mindset that screens out our political leanings and keeps the investing focus on fundamentals, not feelings.

* Sterling hit as two UK ministers resign over Brexit * Nikkei leads Asia shares higher in early trade * Balanced U.S. jobs data suggest Fed can stay gradual on hikes By Wayne Cole SYDNEY, July 9 (Reuters) - Asian share markets crept higher on Monday following favourable U.S. jobs data, while sterling slipped after two members of the British government resigned over Brexit and put the future of Prime Minister Theresa May in doubt. The pound peeled off around a third of a U.S. cent to $1.3292 in early trading as news broke British Brexit Secretary David Davis and Brexit Minister Steven Baker had resigned. The loss came just two days after a meeting at May’s Chequers country residence supposedly sealed a cabinet deal on Brexit and underlines the deep divisions in her ruling Conservative Party over the departure from the EU. Sentiment in other markets was mostly positive after Friday’s U.S. payrolls report showed tame wages and more people looking for work. “The combination of rising employment and increased labour force participation suggests healthy but not tightening labour market conditions in June, something that will allow the Fed to continue to hike rates at a gradual pace,” said Kevin Cummins, a senior U.S. economist at RBS. The balanced report helped Wall Street end last week in the black and Japan’s Nikkei followed up with gains of 1 percent on Monday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.2 percent, on top of 0.7 percent rally on Friday when the launch of U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports came and went without too many fireworks. “While trade tensions fan concerns about the future, incoming data show a soaring U.S. economy, a healthy labour market, and some rebound in Europe and Japan,” said Barclays economist Michael Gapen. “For now, overall policies and financial conditions still support growth and investment,” he added. “A sharper-than-expected China slowdown from a domestic credit crunch and external trade tensions could be the main risk to global growth.” The focus this week would be on Chinese data for June covering inflation, new loans and international trade.