Posted on 05/06/2015 10:49:36 AM PDT by xzins
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Wednesday described stock market valuations as high and said the central bank was carefully monitoring their impact on financial stability.
"I would highlight that equity market valuations at this point generally are quite high," Yellen said in conversation with Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, at an economics conference.
Coupled with weak economic reports in the morning, her remarks drove stocks broadly lower in Wednesday trading.
Yellen added, however, that the overall risks to financial stability are "moderated, not elevated" and she does not see the hallmarks of any bubbles.
She cited one reason stock prices were high: the meager returns on safer investments such as bonds because of low interest rates.
"But there are potential dangers there," Yellen said.
The very low level for short-term and long-term interest rates represented a risk because rates can move rapidly, she explained.
Banking regulators are remaining "watchful" for any areas where further reforms may be needed, she said. Yellen cited the need to address the problem of "too big to fail" — the perception among investors that some institutions are so large that the government will step in and save them if they get into trouble.
The Fed and other regulators are taking steps to ensure that the collapse of even very large banking institutions can be handled in ways that don't jeopardize the stability of the entire system.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Call it a bubble or don’t call it a bubble, but when interest rates rise, lots of money taken out of stocks will send the market down. By a quarter, a third??? Who knows?
Ah , Obama is asking her to bring it all down ?
To smear any incoming president?
And why would Obama ask her to bring it all down?
I still think we’ll see a 10-15% correction—which may be healthy given the current state of the economy. Especially with a large number of investors waiting to become “bargain hunters.”
Someone in her position cannot make comments like this.
But, she’s an affirmative action, Obamaclone hire.
I thought the Fed’s mandate was restricted to controlling inflation through the setting of short-term interest rates. When did the Fed become responsible for growing jobs and moderating stock prices?
Baby, baby you know it’s true
I’m a puppet just for you
I’ll do anything you say
I won’t have it any other way
Take my heart and take my soul
Giving you complete control
If you wanna see me do my thing
Pull my string, pull my string
Puppet man, puppet man
To make people more equal ... equally poor.
I hope it’s only 15%, but the market has grown so slowly, and increased interest costs won’t encourage expansion. I see a steady decline rather than a sell-off as people shift their money into interest bearing accounts. So, your 10 or 15% makes sense as the sell-off, but the gradual descent will be steeper.
So, if she shouldn’t say such thing, but says them anyway, then we’ve got to think she’s involved in intentional manipulation.
To what end? To increase clamoring for QE to continue?
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - It is always a challenge for regulators to identify bubbles, said Esther George, the president of the Kansas City Fed, on Wednesday. “Whether or not certain risks have reached the point that they represent excess, they represent bubbles, that is always murky territory,” George said at a conference sponsored by The Institute for New Economic Thinking. By the time everyone agrees there is a bubble, “you have generally waited too long,” George said. This puts pressure on monetary policy makers to smoothly unwind the bubble, she said. George is not a voting member of the Fed policy committee this year. She has been warning that zero interest rates could spark financial instability since 2013.
By in large because of the transition from a industrial economy and agricultural economy to a financial one.
The transition has resulted into more debt[.gov, individual, national], etc to cover the losses of income from the commons.
The funny comment at your link is that Yellen’s nickname is ‘Bubbles’. I laughed. Apocryphal, but funny, stereotypical, but a neat play on words.
Like all the others they've missed?
You should re-read the Fed’s mandate if that’s what you thought, because you could not be more wrong.
See #16.
I’ve no doubt that everyone in the entire nation saw the real estate bubble.
There’s no way even slow-witted Bubba missed that Bubble.
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