Federal Reserve

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Fed Chair Announces Big Change on Interest Rates

Jerome Powell says Fed will keep rates near zero, even after inflation exceeds 2%

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve announced a significant change Thursday in how it manages interest rates by saying it plans to keep rates near zero even after inflation has exceeded the Fed's 2% target level. The change signifies that the Fed is prepared to tolerate a higher level of inflation than...

Stocks Continue Climb After Latest News from Fed

Eastman Kodak surges 318%

(Newser) - Stocks closed broadly higher on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve said it will keep the accelerator floored on its aid for the economy. The S&P 500 climbed 1.2% Wednesday, its best day in two weeks. Treasury yields held steady and gold reached another record high. The Fed...

US Mortgage Rate Hits 'Tremendous Benchmark'

'It's also an indication that we remain in a crisis here,' says an economist at Zillow Group Inc

(Newser) - Looking to buy a house? The average 30-year fixed mortgage has sunk below 3% for the first time in Freddie Mac's long history of tracking America's most beloved home loan, the Wall Street Journal reports. It's a "tremendous benchmark," says a Zillow Group Inc economist...

Here's Another Shortage Caused by the Pandemic

Reduced coin production, lack of circulation leads to rationing for banks

(Newser) - For the nation, the answer to "Got any change?" has become more complicated. There are coins around, though fewer than before the pandemic, and they're not necessarily in circulation. "With the partial closure of the economy, the flow of funds through the economy has stopped," Federal...

Wall Street Bounces Back After Latest News From Fed

'Volatility is here to stay, at least for a little while'

(Newser) - It took just a few hours for fear to turn back into greed on Wall Street Monday, and stocks erased a sharp, early slump to notch healthy gains after the Federal Reserve unveiled its latest push to prop up the economy, the AP reports. The S&P 500 climbed 0....

Stocks Jump After Big News From Fed

Interest rates expected to stay near zero until 2022

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it will keep buying bonds to maintain low borrowing rates and support a US economy mired in a deep recession with high unemployment. And it said nearly all its policymakers foresee no rate hikes through 2022. The Fed has cut its benchmark short-term rate...

Virus Clobbers Retail Sales, US Factories

Both industries see record drops

(Newser) - US retail sales tumbled by a record 16.4% from March to April as business shutdowns caused by the coronavirus kept shoppers away, per the AP . The Commerce Department’s report Friday on retail purchases showed a sector that has collapsed so quickly that sales over the past 12 months...

Fed Indicates It Will Hold Rates Near Zero for Months

Fed will also keep buying Treasury and mortgage bonds

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve signaled Wednesday that it will keep its key short-term interest rate near zero for the foreseeable future as part of its extraordinary efforts to bolster an economy that is sinking into its worst crisis since the 1930s. As part of its emergency steps, the Fed said it...

Fed Chief: Economy's Rebound May Be 'Robust'

Agency unveils $2.3T loan program to help small businesses, cities

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve is taking additional steps to provide up to $2.3 trillion in loans to support the economy, per the AP . The money will target American households and businesses, as well as local governments besieged by the coronavirus outbreak. The Fed said Thursday that it's activating a...

The Fed Is Lending $1T a Day
The Fed Is Lending $1T a Day

The Fed Is Lending $1T a Day

It's also buying Treasury bonds at a furious pace

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve moved with unprecedented force and speed Friday to pump huge amounts of cash into the financial system to ease disruptions that have escalated since the viral outbreak, the AP reports. The New York Federal Reserve Bank said it will offer $1 trillion of overnight loans a day...

Fed Responds to Coronavirus Outbreak With Big Rate Cut

The benchmark interest rate is reduced to nearly zero

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve took emergency action Sunday and slashed its benchmark interest rate by a full percentage point to nearly zero and announced it would purchase more Treasury securities to encourage lending to try to offset the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, the AP reports. The central bank said the...

The Fed Makes Emergency Rate Cut
Fed Makes Emergency
Rate Cut, Most Since 2008
UPDATED

Fed Makes Emergency Rate Cut, Most Since 2008

Cuts benchmark interest rate half a point

(Newser) - In a surprise move, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a sizable half-percentage point Tuesday in an effort to support the economy in the face of the spreading coronavirus. Chairman Jerome Powell said at a news conference that the virus "will surely weigh on economic activity...

Fed Leaves Key Rate Unchanged
Fed Leaves Key Rate Unchanged

Fed Leaves Key Rate Unchanged

Key interest rate remains at 1.5% to 1.75%

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged at a low level Wednesday amid an economy that looks solid but faces potential global threats, including from China’s viral outbreak. The Fed sketched a mostly bright picture of the US economy in the statement it released after its latest...

Fed Doesn't Mess With Rates and Doesn't Expect to in 2020

It removes language about 'uncertainties'

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve had signaled a pause was coming, and on Wednesday that's what we got. Following a series of three rate cuts, the Fed at its December meeting kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at between 1.5% and 1.75%. And should their expectations for the economy...

Ex-Fed Chief Paul Volcker Dead at 92
Ex-Fed Chief
Paul Volcker
Dead at 92
OBITUARY

Ex-Fed Chief Paul Volcker Dead at 92

Chair who pushed back on inflation by raising interest rates died of prostate cancer complications

(Newser) - Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman who in the early 1980s raised interest rates to historic highs and triggered a recession as the price of quashing double-digit inflation, has died. He was 92, per the AP . The New York Times and Washington Post report his death was confirmed by...

Fed Cuts Rates Again, With a Big 'But'

The short-term rate is lowered to between 1.5% and 1.75%

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate Wednesday for the third time this year to try to sustain the economic expansion in the face of global threats, the AP reports. But it hinted that it won't likely cut again this year. The Fed's move reduces the short-term...

Sharply Divided Fed Again Reduces Rates

But may not do so again this year

(Newser) - A sharply divided Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year but declined to signal that further rate cuts are likely this year, the AP reports. The Fed's move reduces its key short-term rate—which influences many consumer and business loans—by an...

Trump: Fed 'Boneheads' Need to Try Negative Interest Rates

President is once again criticizing Jerome Powell and his colleagues

(Newser) - President Trump continued his long-running critique of the Federal Reserve Wednesday in a series of tweets blasting his own hand-picked chair, Jerome Powell, and the rest of the "Boneheads" there who, he said, need to be slashing interest rates below zero—a far cry from the comparatively moderate rate...

Trump Slams &#39;Clueless&#39; Fed Chief, &#39;Crazy&#39; Yield Curve
Trump Blasts
'Crazy Inverted
Yield Curve'
THE RUNDOWN

Trump Blasts 'Crazy Inverted Yield Curve'

Economists are split on signs of a recession

(Newser) - President Trump says the American economy is doing magnificently and we are "winning, big time, against China"—but one of the things still holding the economy back is the Federal Reserve chairman he appointed. In a pair of tweets Wednesday, Trump renewed his attacks on Jerome Powell, calling...

What It Means If the Fed Cuts Rates This Afternoon
The Fed Just Made
a Major Reversal
the rundown

The Fed Just Made a Major Reversal

Cuts key interest rate by a quarter-point

(Newser) - As expected, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut its key interest rate for the first time since December 2008. The benchmark short-term rate was lowered by a quarter-point to a range of 2% to 2.25%, the AP reports. The Fed also repeated a pledge to "act as appropriate...

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