Free Republic

Out on the campaign trail, Fed head Ben Bernanke is an unpopular guy. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have both said they would replace Bernanke, not reappoint him. Rep. Ron Paul would swap the whole Federal Reserve monetary system for a gold-linked dollar, making the yellow metal legal tender. And it was Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, before he dropped out of the race, who said more quantitative easing by the Fed would be "almost treasonous." Republicans in Washington are equally unimpressed by Bernanke. Rep. Paul Ryan recently criticized the Fed for bankrolling our huge budget deficits and thereby accommodating...

Despite increased economic activity that will bring additional tax revenues to the government. Barack Obama's budget to be released on Monday shows an increase in the budget deficit from last year.The Hill: President Obama's 2013 budget due out Monday will estimate the deficit for 2012 to be $1.33 trillion, higher than the $1.29 trillion deficit in 2011, according to senior administration officials.The increase happens largely because the budget assumes enactment of a $350 billion stimulus package, including extension of the payroll tax cut. That package is a scaled-down version of the $447 billion American Jobs Act that Obama proposed...

Yesterday was a watershed event. The Fed capitulated and acknowledged that the economy will require zero percent interest rates into the indefinite future. Just six months ago they were saying the policy would only continue through to the end of 2012. What happened to change their view of the economy? Perhaps, for once, they decided that honesty is the policy. But, that would be too much to hope for. No, they are hell-bent on making things look as good as they possibly can for the upcoming election. They had to acknowledge the obvious: the economy is weak and looking even...

The U.S. Federal Reserve said Wednesday it will not raise interest rates until at least late 2014, even later than investors expected, in an effort to support a sluggish economic recovery. Without making major shifts to its outlook for the economy, the central bank described the unemployment rate as still elevated and said it expects inflation to remain at levels consistent with stable prices. “I think what they are seeing is that the rate of growth is not sufficient to bring down the unemployment rate,” said Brian Dolan, chief strategist at Forex.com. The Fed depicted business investment as having slowed,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it will likely not raise interest rates until at least late 2014, much later than it had said previously, as it nurses a still-sluggish economic recovery. The Fed, after a two-day policy meeting, repeated its view that the economy faces "significant downside risks" but it offered little to suggest it was close to launching another round of bond-buying to prop up growth. It did say, however, that it would maintain a "highly accommodative" monetary policy stance. Economic conditions "are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at...

Once again the bond markets have spoken, and once again the message is the same: default. Greek two-year bonds are near 44%, having touched as high as 46%. The interest rate on 1-year Greek government debt is a stunning 59.8%.  Greece Not Saved  Supposedly "Greece was Saved" on that blue circle when yet another bailout (throwing more good money after bad) was approved.  The deal unraveled for numerous reasons but demands by Finland for collateral are at or near the top of the list. Austria, Slovakia, and the Netherlands now want collateral as well.  Under great pressure from Germany, the...

Super-low interest rates haven't done what they usually do after a recession. They haven't ignited economic growth or revived the home market or persuaded consumers to spend freely again. They have, though, caused misery for retirees and others who depend on interest income. Such income plummeted 27 percent from 2008 to last year. Now, some economists worry that low rates might be hurting the economy itself -- defeating the purpose of the Federal Reserve's low-rate policies. When savers earn less, they spend less. And spending by individuals drives about 70 percent of the U.S. economy. Those concerns arise 2 1/2...

<p>NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - The Dow picked up steam late in the trading day Tuesday, and closed up 430 points.</p> <p>That jump came shortly after the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more 170 points following an announcement by the Federal Reserve that it would likely keep interest rates at record lows for the next two years.</p>

Very meaty announcement out here. Here are the three key ideas. * There will be no rate hikes until mid-2013. * The Fed says downside risks to the economy have grown. * The Fed is prepared to use additional tools. * Three FEd members -- Kocherklakota, Fisher, and Plosser -- have dissented form the FOMC decision. Here's the full announcement: Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in June indicates that economic growth so far this year has been considerably slower than the Committee had expected. Indicators suggest a deterioration in overall labor market conditions in recent months,...

...One other factor that could lift bond prices is that Treasury could be forced to stop selling new bonds, which would limit the supply available for investors. Limiting supply typically helps to lift prices. Thursday's auction of 7-year Treasuries came in with a yield of 2.25%, the lowest rate Treasury has had to pay for notes of that term since last November.

Failure to raise the Federal debt ceiling limit could "roil the financial markets and cause severe economic problems," "cause profound damage to our country," and have “dire consequences.” So wrote the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and New York Times. But the year was 1995, not 2011. Other ills predicted during that contentious debate were rising unemployment, reduced GDP growth, and soaring interest rates. That was at a time when President Clinton and Democrats were fighting off attempts by Republicans to link cutting the deficit to the increase in the debt ceiling and a continuing resolution on spending. Then as...

The $1 Billion Armageddon Trade Placed Against The United States Bond Market Interest-Rates / US Bonds Jul 25, 2011 By: Money Morning Jack Barnes writes : Someone dropped a bomb on the bond market Thursday - a $1 billion Armageddon trade betting the United States will lose its AAA credit rating. In one moment, an invisible trader placed a single trade that moved the most liquid debt market in the world. The massive trade wasn't placed in bonds themselves; it was placed in the futures market. The trade was for block trades of 5,370 10-year Treasury futures executed at 124-03...

The Federal Reserve is unlikely to change monetary policy for years as the economy remains mired in an extended period of slow growth, Pimco's Bill Gross told CNBC. As Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke prepares his much-awaited Humphrey Hawkins speech, the co-CEO of the world's largest bond manager said he sees no end in sight to the central bank's policy of sub-zero real interest rates. "What Bernanke should explain in terms of his language is it's really going to be a long, long time from which the Fed deserts its 25 basis points Fed funds target," Gross said. "That means perhaps...

Some pundits and lots of the media are pointing to the fact that manufacturing is hiring again. Those media and pundits are feeding us more junk...the most successful of the auto makers is Ford ...At $85 Billion for 67,000 rehires, that is more than $ 1 million per rehire for the auto bailouts at GM and Chrysler. More than $1 million per rehired worker is a horrible return on investment! ...And the costs for Obama’s programs continue to rise. ...Some argue that Obama inherited this situation. Did he? He was part of Congress from 2005 to 2009. He was part...

How To Keep A Damaged Financial And Economic System Afloat? Interest-Rates / Credit Crisis 2011 May 15, 2011 - 12:38 PM By: Bob Chapman The elitists who run America from behind the scenes have serious problems in trying to keep a badly damaged financial and economic system afloat. Ironically, these same characters are the ones responsible for the system and the condition that it is in today. It is not only confined to the US, but it prevails in England, Europe and other countries as well. Central bankers are all in constant touch with each other to employ tactics that...

...Money managers now expect interest rates to increase as the Fed has to deal with the inflation from increasing food and energy prices that are not in the CPI. And money managers expect taxes to be increased to pay for government programs, which will suck money out of the economy. What will increased interest rates and taxes do to home values, to stock values, to bond values and to jobs? They will all fall. George Soros, bankers, insurance companies and Wall Street who all gave lots of money to Obama, will all make lots of money again by selling assets...

Have the sharks lured you back into the investment water? Well, you are about to lose everything again, like in 2009 – and Obama is letting the sharks do it because they gave him lots of money. And who are those sharks? George Soros, executives of Goldman Sachs, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, bankers, insurance companies and Wall Street. Let's look at these things: inflation, GDP, unemployment, housing, oil and taxes... ... Money managers are now moving lots of money into cash and treasuries from stocks and bonds. Why? Low interest rates have been driving up the values of stocks and...

Gold futures settled at a record Wednesday, getting a boost after the Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate at an historic low range and said rates will likely stay low for an “extended period.” The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday left its key interest rate at an historic low range of 0% to 0.25% and said its $600 billion bond-buying program would end as scheduled on June 30. The decisions were widely expected. Read more about the Fed decision. “The continued wording of exceptionally low rates for an extended period says it all,” Keith Springer, president...

65 Ways That Everything That You Think That You Own Is Being Systematically Taken Away From YouApril 12, 2011 Everything that you own is slowly being taken away from you. It is being done purposely and it is being done by design. Many Americans like to think of themselves as "well off", but as will be demonstrated below, we don't "own" nearly as much as we think that we do. The truth is that most of us have to frantically run around accumulating wealth as rapidly as we can so that we can somehow stay ahead of the rate that...

U.S. Will Default On Its Debt Interest-Rates / US Debt Apr 04, 2011 - 04:13 PM By: DailyWealth Dr. Steve Sjuggerud writes: "I am confident that this country will default on its debt," Bill Gross wrote this week. Bill Gross is not some anti-American crackpot... quite the contrary. He manages the world's biggest bond fund. As the founder and chief investment officer of PIMCO, he's responsible for over $1.2 trillion in assets – mostly in bonds. And last month, in his main bond fund, he got rid of all of his U.S. government bonds. "[I've] been selling Treasurys because they...