#federal-reserve

#federal-reserve

The United States Department of Justice plans to investigate Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, with a top official informing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell of the probe and encouraging him to remove her, Bloomberg News has reported.

The documents, released late Tuesday, show that Trump began the bond-buying spree one day after he was sworn in on January 20 and that it includes debt sold by companies, local governments, and entities that could be directly affected by his sweeping agenda. All told, Trump made about 690 purchases from January 21 through August 1. The active trading by a president of the United States is unprecedented.

The moves were stronger in the bond market, where Treasury yields rose after a report forced Wall Street to scale back hopes that the Federal Reserve may soon deliver relief by cutting interest rates. The report suggested growth in U.S. business activity is accelerating and hit its fastest rate so far this year. That's good news for the economy, but the preliminary data from S&P Global also said tariffs helped push up average selling prices at the fastest rate in three years. That's a discouraging sign for inflation.

Fed chair Jerome Powell and governor Lisa Cook have now both been referred to the Department of Justice by Trump's political allies in the hopes that criminal charges can be brought against them. The bond market flinched yesterday at the news. Stocks sold off. And Wall Street analysts are worrying that we may be looking at the end of independent monetary policy.

United States President Donald Trump has called on Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to resign, intensifying his effort to gain influence over the central bank on the basis of allegations made by one of his allies about mortgages Cook holds in Michigan and Georgia. US Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte alleged in a post on X earlier on Wednesday that Cook had designated a condo in Atlanta as her primary residence after taking a loan on her home in Michigan,

Tech stocks could remain under pressure after they led Wall Street lower on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq dropping 1.4% and the S&P 500 slipping 0.6%. Losses were widespread among chipmakers, where Nvidia slid 3.5%, AMD fell more than 5%, and Broadcom lost more than 3%. Palantir was the weakest S&P 500 performer, plunging 9%. The selloff reflected investor caution ahead of the Federal Reserve's annual Jackson Hole symposium, where Chair Jerome Powell is due to speak on Friday.

US equities advanced as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reached record levels, driven by hopes for Federal Reserve rate cuts and soft consumer price data.

"We doubt that US tariffs will significantly affect inflation in the rest of the world, but if anything, the effect could be mildly disinflationary," said Simon MacAdam and Ariane Curtis.

"U.S. producer prices surged 0.9% m/m in July, far exceeding expectations of 0.2% and marking the largest monthly gain since June 2022. On an annual basis, PPI rose 3.3%, up from 2.4% in June, while core PPI jumped to 3.7% from 2.6%. The data shattered forecasts across the board, underscoring the inflationary impact of recent tariff policy and justifying Fed caution regarding rate cuts," George Vessey of Convera told clients this morning.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that its producer price index - which measures inflation before it hits consumers - was up 0.9% last month from June and 3.3% from a year earlier.

First of all the technicals and equities are crazy. [The] amount of cash on the sideline, the amount of buybacks relative to the IPO calendar-i.e. the demand is significant.

Gold prices fell as signs of de-escalation in the Ukraine conflict diminished safe-haven demand. Trump's upcoming meeting with Putin may further ease tensions.

Miran advocates for an extensive overhaul of Fed governance, suggesting shorter board member terms, presidential control, and nationalizing the Fed's regional banks to enhance oversight and support economic growth.

Worries are still high that Trump's tariffs are damaging the economy, particularly after last week's worse-than-expected report on the job market.

The Fed decided to keep rates steady this week at 4.25-4.5%, focusing investor attention more than usual. Numerous earnings reports were released during the week.