quantitative easing

Janet Yellen is imminently qualified for the Fed Chair position. I think it makes no tactical or strategic political sense to pass her over for a male candidate - because it would rightly be considered a 'passing over' and need serious…

The Fed will be stuck at zero for a very long time, perhaps forever. Investors who are anticipating the Fed's tightening are premature in their assessment of when rate hikes can reasonably occur. Ben Bernanke and other Fed members have made…

The following are today's prepared remarks of the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the US Congress by US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. While the totality of Chairman Bernanke's remarks are not new, we have underlined and…

The Federal Reserve delivered a one-two punch to market expectations today. First the FOMC minutes did not appear as hawkish as many expected. Several FOMC members wanted to see more job growth before pulling back on the throttle. Second,…

The ECB has moved toward forward guidance but they have been careful not to press too far ahead, I suspect because they wanted to get Weidmann on board. Here are two recent comments on ECB policy and some of my own.

Interest rates will stay low for a long time - long as in years, not months. In the UK there is a risk that a weakening currency may lead to some modest increase in inflation but, generally speaking, inflation is not a problem, and all…

US equity markets are continuing to price in higher premiums for bank shares relative to the overall market. The increased steepness of the yield curve will mean higher net interest income, as banks borrow at historically low rates from…

Paul Krugman penned a New York Times Op-Ed, "Et Tu, Bernanke?", referencing the famous Shakespeare quote "Et tu, Brute" which is generally used to signal betrayal from someone unexpected. Krugman meant to say that the Fed has betrayed the…

There are perhaps more myths about QE than almost any other monetary policy instrument. Here are five of the most pernicious QE myths.

By Marc Chandler  The dollar is the king of castle, extending yesterday's post-Fed rally across the board. Emerging market currencies have been particularly hard hit and we note that the Turkish lira is at new record lows.  Asset markets…