Posted on 08/10/2004 11:15:32 AM PDT by RWR8189
In the second tightening of US monetary policy since May of 2000, Alan Greenspan and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised the Federal Funds Rate target 25 basis points to 1.50%, as expected.
More...
Time for Greenspan to go (way past time!)...the economy will be struggling with $45 crude prices. Does this guy live in the real world. Huge jump in crude prices will knock most industries for a loop, especially chemicals, drugs and plastics. Let alone the trucking industry. There needs to be an age limit for the Head of the Fed.
This increase was factored in last week by the markets.
Today after the small increase was announced most market indexes continued their increase versus last week.
Agree. See my post #16
UPDATE for 08/10/04
My 2 cents: Don't get mad @ me, get Glade.
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Right now W's average approval ratings is 47.0% from last 10 polls (Dem/GOP don't count). The max W will get over his average approval rating is 0.5%.
So: If the election were held today, the approx election results would be.
W/O Nader
Bush 47.5%
Kerry 51.5%
Others 1.0%
Bush 47.5%
Kerry 50.5%
Nader 1.3%
Others 0.7%
MOE+/-1%
Yhey're not that good.
Probably. The productivity report today indicated that compensation costs are up. That indicates that employment is much better than reported.
MEDIA IS WINNING.
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Fifty-one percent (51%) of Americans now say the economy is getting worse. That's up from 48% before Friday's report. Just 36% say the economy is getting better, down from 37%.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/daily.htm
lots of sides to this. It could help shore up the dollar thereby keeping a lid on crude prices and inflation ingeneral.
Alot of loans have been made to get through the global recession; to continue to attract global money into new US bond/bill issuance will require higher interest rates with increasing global competition for capital.
Yes, I saw this also. Has any of the talking heads, who are paid to note such things, commented on this?
Raising interest rates while the energy costs are rising is exactly what happened last time. Bad news.........
My prediction: after the election, regardless who wins, a very sharp recession, followed by stagflation thru the end of the decade.
these rates aren't going up because greenspan is worried about inflation, or because he gives a crapola about deficits or americans holding cash...they're going up because the foreign nationals who buy our national debt are signalling "enough already".
It works like this: they buy our increasingly worthless paper to keep their own currencies weak, so they can keep exporting to the US. But even the Japanese and the Chinese have their limits. I suspect it's been reached.
Federal reserve chairman Alan Greenspan (news - web sites). US Federal Reserve (news - web sites) policymakers raised the key short-term interest rate by a quarter point to 1.5 percent, blaming a spike in oil prices for curbing economic activity.(AFP/File/Manny Ceneta)
Rasmussen is trash.
I'm much more hopeful. I think the economy will do well during Bush's second period.
A Kerry presidency on the other hand...that would in large part depend on who controls the Congress.
On the question of foreign investment in the USA: Tell me where an investor should place his money. In the Eurozone? In Japan? In Russia??
The problem (or the boon for the US) is that there are no other geographical areas where you have both a good economic prospect and pollitcal stability. The European and Japanese economies are stil all over the place, and barring any major political earthquakes, their economic policies will guarantee that the US economy will be the best bet for a long term to come.
Of course if you are ready to gamble you can invest in Eastern Europe, Russia, India, China but the political risks are probably even greater than the economic risks in those areas...
The U.S. Federal Reserve (news - web sites) on August 10, 2004 raised interest rates another quarter of a percentage point to head off potential inflation, saying the economy was poised to pick up after a recent slowdown. The unanimous decision by the U.S. central bank's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee (news - web sites) moves the benchmark federal funds rate -- which influences credit costs throughout the economy -- to 1.5 percent. It was the second quarter-point increase this year, following one announced on June 30 after the last FOMC meeting. (Reuters Graphic)
Grandpa Al isn't senile or stupid...he's crazy.
Fundamentally, he believes in free markets, but he also believes prices must never go down.
The DJIA is holding +100. The dollar is up 1%. Volume is good. Looks like the 1/4% increase is not a bad thing.
I wonder why the media did not win in 1968, 1972, 1980, 1984, 1988, and 2000.
I wonder why the media did not win in 1968, 1972, 1980, 1984, 1988, and 2000.
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