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President Donald Trump on Friday formally nominated former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as chair of the U.S. central bank, bringing a turbulent and politically charged transition at the Fed closer to resolution. The decision concludes a months-long search process that unfolded amid extraordinary pressure on the Federal Reserve, rising concerns over inflation persistence, and growing debate about the future independence of the central bank. Trump announced the nomination in a Truth Social post, praising Warsh as a steady and capable choice during a volatile period for monetary policy. “I have known Kevin for a long...

Gold and silver prices plunged on Friday, as President Donald Trump’s nomination for the next chair of the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, appeared to relieve concerns about the central bank’s independence. By 7:12 a.m. ET, spot silver was down 10.6% to settle at around $103.81 an ounce, paring back earlier losses. In the early hours of the morning, the metal had plummeted as much as 16% and dipped below the $100 milestone.

Sen. Thom Tillis said Friday that he will oppose President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve chair until the criminal probe of the current Chair Jerome Powell is “fully” resolved. “Protecting the independence of the Federal Reserve from political interference or legal intimidation is non-negotiable,” the North Carolina Republican said in a statement on X. Tillis, who is set to retire, vowed earlier this month to oppose any new nominee for the Fed until the Department of Justice’s controversial investigation of Powell is completed. Tillis is a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee,...

A Delaware Court of Chancery judge has rejected a motion from activist investor HoldCo Asset Management that sought to legally block Fifth Third's acquisition of Comerica.On Jan. 14 -- the day after the deal had received all necessary regulatory approvals and a Feb. 1 closing date was set -- HoldCo filed an emergency motion for temporary restraining order to stall the merger's closing. Vice Chancellor Morgan T. Zurn denied HoldCo's motion Friday."Enjoining a premium merger on the eve of closing will introduce substantial delay and uncertainty," Zurn wrote in a Monday filing explaining her denial. "While HoldCo mourns a topping...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will attend the Supreme Court’s oral argument Wednesday in a case involving the attempted firing of Fed governor Lisa Cook, an unusual show of support by the central bank chair. The high court is considering whether President Donald Trump can fire Cook, as he said he would do in late August, in an unprecedented attempt to remove one of the seven members of the Fed’s governing board. Powell plans to attend the high court’s Wednesday session, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity. It’s a...

Former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh soared ahead of National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on prediction markets betting on the next Fed chair after President Trump on Friday hinted that Hassett might be out of the running. Trump did not reveal his final choice to replace Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, but said he would like to keep Hassett in his current role. “I see Kevin’s in the audience, and I just want to thank you. You were fantastic on television today,” the president said during remarks at the White House on Friday. “I actually want to keep you where...

As President Trump has argued his case against Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in the public square, high-ranking members of the global banking community have rallied to Powell’s defense. Trump’s argument is that Powell is either incompetent or improperly partisan, as he dithered while a Democratic regime spent the country into oblivion and now he’s refused to accelerate needed reductions in interest rates during a Republican administration. In Trump’s eyes, there has to be a reason for that, and it’s unacceptable behavior. On top of that, Powell’s supervision of the renovation of the Fed’s national headquarters (the Eccles Building) has...

Can Trump finally bring the gravy train to a screeching halt? During the Biden years, as inflation soared, Jerome Powell somehow said that inflation was transitory: Powell flirts again with a dangerous way to describe inflation: ‘Transitory’A fraught word resurfaced in the Federal Reserve’s lexicon again this week: ‘transitory.’ Yet somehow, he never blamed Biden’s energy policies (hundreds of billions in subsidies), open borders (hundreds of billions for various programs for illegals), or bureaucratic regulations, which all directly contributed to massive amounts spending, which in turn, created inflation when the Fed created the dollars needed for the bill. One of...

The video is a reaction/commentary piece analyzing a recent CNBC interview clip featuring Joe Kernen interviewing Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Key points covered: Warren criticizes Donald Trump for allegedly trying to exert political control over the Federal Reserve (e.g., threatening to fire Chair Jerome Powell and demanding influence over interest rates). She argues the Fed must remain independent and base decisions purely on economic data like inflation and unemployment, rather than political pressure, to avoid short-term boosts that harm long-term stability. The CNBC host (Kernen) and the video's narrator push back, accusing Warren of hypocrisy. They point out that during...

Tensions between a president and a Federal Reserve chairman are nothing new. Up until now, they may have reached a peak when Lyndon Johnson shoved William McChesney Martin at the LBJ ranch. Martin gave in a while later, another step into the inflationary quagmire from which the U.S. emerged only after Paul Volcker reasserted the Fed’s independence. However bad that Texas moment, it falls far short of the Department of Justice’s serving the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas on Friday. They relate to testimony given to the Senate Banking Committee concerning an over-budget renovation project and come with the...

Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, The New York Times reported on Sunday evening, citing officials briefed on the matter. The probe is eyeing “the central bank’s renovation of its Washington headquarters and whether Mr. Powell lied to Congress about the scope of the project,” the Times reported, citing those officials. The investigation is being overseen by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, according to the newspaper. That office is led by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, a former New York state prosecutor and Fox News host, who was appointed to...

In the annals of political lawfare there’s dumb, and then there’s the criminal subpoena federal prosecutors delivered Friday to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. President Trump would do himself and the country a big favor by firing those responsible for this fiasco. The subpoena relates to testimony Mr. Powell gave to Congress in June concerning renovations to the Fed’s office buildings in Washington, D.C. Those renovations raised a brief ruckus over the summer after Administration officials such as Russ Vought of the Office of Management and Budget accused the Fed of running over budget on a needlessly grandiose project. Fair...

President Donald Trump early in his second term renamed the Department of Defense the Department of War. This was the original name given to our federal military in 1789 and it had been in effect until it was eliminated by legislation in 1947 and actively became the Department of Defense in 1949. In William Shakespeare’s great play Romeo and Juliet, Juliet utters the immortal line, “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” This name change by Trump is not to change the department’s smell, but to signify a change in tone, focus, and...

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced its third interest rate cut of the year as policymakers moved forward with the cut to support the labor market despite elevated inflation. Fed policymakers voted to lower the benchmark federal funds rate by 25 basis points to a new range of 3.5% to 3.75%. The move follows rate cuts of that size in September and October, which were the first of the year. Policymakers have been tracking economic data showing a slowdown in the labor market in recent months as companies adjust to shifts in trade and immigration policy. Meanwhile, inflation has trended...

Summary Fed's Kugler exited central bank amid trading rules violations New disclosures detail trading that broke Fed rules Kugler faces Fed Inspector General Inquiry NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Former Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler, who abruptly resigned this summer, had multiple financial transactions in violation of the central bank's ethics rules, government filings showed on Saturday, with the matter referred to the Fed’s in-house watchdog for investigation. Kugler in late July had sought a waiver to deal with investing rules transgressions by her spouse - including trades in individual stocks and other transactions around Fed policy meetings -...

AI is Not Ready for Prime Time: The Infrastructure and Human Reality GapArtificial Intelligence has captured the imagination of investors, companies, and the public alike, promising unprecedented efficiency, automation, and insight. Headlines trumpet AI’s transformative power, but a closer examination reveals a significant gap between hype and operational reality.1. The AI Bubble: Investment vs. ValueAI has attracted billions of dollars in investment, reminiscent of the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s. Startups and established companies alike promote “AI-first” futures, claiming humans will be replaced, efficiency will soar, and profits will skyrocket. In practice, however:Most AI applications are effective only in...

Every living former chair of the Federal Reserve, as well as a slew of ex-Treasury secretaries and former White House economic advisors, urged the Supreme Court not to allow President Donald Trump to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook as her lawsuit challenging her removal is pending. Signers included ex-Fed chairs Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, Janet Yellen; ex-Treasury secretaries Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, Hank Paulson, Jack Lew, and Timothy Geithner; and ex-CEA chairs Glenn Hubbard, Greg Mankiw, Christina Romer, Cecilia Rouse, Jared Bernstein, and Jason Furman.

President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fire Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook, setting up a test of the president’s ability to take control of the powerful interest-rate setting body. The Justice Department on Thursday asked the high court to reverse the decisions of two lower courts that allowed Cook to remain in her position while the broader legal fight is underway. Their decisions enabled Cook to participate in a meeting this week that resulted in a quarter-point reduction in the interest rate. Trump’s incursion on the Federal Reserve is the culmination of his...

The chart below shows gold holdings (in yellow) and US Treasuries holdings as a percentage of foreign reserves. Gold is now a larger holding than US Treasuries for the first time in 30 years. We might be witnessing one of the most significant global rebalancing we’ve experienced in recent history, in my view. Where’s the World’s Gold Really Sitting? This chart shows the official gold reserves by country and the numbers are surprising. US has 8,133 tonnes—by far the leader. Then comes Germany (3,350 tonnes), Italy (2,452 tonnes), France (2,437 tonnes), Russia (2,330 tonnes), China (2,299 tonnes) and Switzerland (1,040...

Perhaps the only thing that might stop the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates in a few weeks would be a surprisingly strong U.S. jobs report. Just don’t count on it. Hiring has slowed sharply since the spring after the Trump administration launched the biggest trade wars in decades. Even with those trade disputes dying down, businesses have been slow to add new employees. The U.S. economy added an average of only 35,000 new jobs from May through July, marking the smallest three-month increase since the pandemic in 2020. Wall Street isn’t expecting a big uptick in August, either. A...