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The Significance of the Fed Pause: Interest Rates, the Economy and Inflation
Reading Time: 15 minutes
After 17 straight quarter point rate hikes going back to June 2004 the Fed paused on Tuesday leaving the federal funds rate at 5.25% (from 1% back in June of 2004). In this post I want to try and explain…
Companies Selling to the Middle Class Start to Feel the Pain
Reading Time: 5 minutes
The Wall Street Journal ran a noteworthy article on Monday (subscription required) citing evidence that middle income consumers are slowing down their spending in the face of high gas prices and a slowing housing market: … Ms. Liebmann [president of…
WSJ: The House the Fed Built
Reading Time: 3 minutes
The Wall Street Journal today published an editorial, “The House the Fed Built” (subscription required), echoing the interpretation of recent Fed history I posted a couple weeks ago: This is the housing market the Federal Reserve built. That is to say,…
Women’s Retailer Chico’s FAS and Home Furnishings Retailer Williams-Sonoma Report Slowing Sales
Reading Time: 2 minutes
After the bell on Wednesday women’s retailer Chico’s FAS (NYSE: CHS) warned that August same store sales are showing a decline of about 3% and that it sees dismal same store sales for its third quarter, according to the Wall…
Morgan Stanley’s Stephen Roach on the Popping of the Housing Bubble and Its Effect on the US and Global Economies
Reading Time: 7 minutes
Stephen Roach, Chief Economist at Morgan Stanley, had some noteworthy things to say about the bursting of the housing bubble and its effects on the US and global economies in his most recent two commentaries at Morgan Stanley’s Global Economic…
Fed Minutes Reveal Balancing Act at the Fed
Reading Time: 4 minutes
A few weeks after each Fed meeting, the minutes for that meeting are released. The minutes are not an actual transcript of what was said but a shamelessly doctored summary. As I tried to explain a couple weeks ago the…