Tag Archive for ‘monetary policy’

Implications Of FOMC Normalization Process For Mortgage Rates

In its statement, the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) left its key interest rate unchanged at a range of 1.0 to 1.25 percent. As signaled in its last statement, the FOMC, beginning in October, will initiate the balance sheet normalization program. The contents of this program are described in the June 2017 Addendum to the Committee’s Policy Normalization Principles and… Read More ›

May Meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee – From Idea to Proposal

Beyond confirming that if economic activity continues to unfold as expected another increase in the federal funds rate would be appropriate soon (June), the minutes from the May meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) added relatively little to the picture of the path of monetary policy that was laid out in the post-meeting statement and previous policy discussions…. Read More ›

May Meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee – Accentuate the Positive

Economic activity sputtered in the first quarter, job growth stumbled in March, and inflation turned negative at both the headline and core (excluding food and energy) levels. Policymakers on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) “decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 3/4 to 1 percent” and pronounced “Near-term risks to the economic outlook appear… Read More ›

March Meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee – A Closer Look

The minutes from meetings of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy setting body, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), traditionally released three weeks after the meeting, provide a closer look at the deliberations, than the brief statement released immediately following the meetings. The minutes from the March meeting provide deeper insights in two particular areas: the path of the federal funds… Read More ›

Minutes From the FOMC January/February Meeting – We’ll Let You Know

The minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meetings, released three weeks after the meeting as standard practice, offer a glimpse behind the curtain, providing details of the deliberations, areas of agreement as well as ongoing debate, and specific articulations of viewpoints from unnamed meeting participants, going beyond the statement released immediately following the meeting. Minutes from the January… Read More ›

Federal Open Market Committee January/February Meeting – No News is Good News

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the monetary policy arm of the Federal Reserve System, concluded its two-day meeting and released a statement announcing no change in the target range for the federal funds rate. The current 50-75 basis point range was expected to be maintained following this first meeting since the December meeting, at which the target range for… Read More ›

Federal Open Market Committee December Meeting – Step Two

Analysts scrutinize the statements released immediately following the meetings of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy setting arm, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) for hints about the likely direction of policy and implications for the economy. Like Kremlinologists, every adjective, choice of wording and change is examined. In the December statement only one sentence mattered: “In view of realized and… Read More ›