"Everything you need to know about gold"
ALL HAIL THE FED!
As investors continue to gobble up stocks and the dollar prices of most assets continue to climb, it would appear that all is well. Concerns about weakening economic activity and recession have been moved to the back burner. Now, the focus is squarely on inflation.
The anticipation and speculation regarding interest rate cuts is almost comical to watch. Scratch ‘almost’. Interested observers are obsessive about the topic in a hilariously funny way. Mainstream media and the pundits always find cause for promoting a possible rate cut no matter what is said. (see Investors Re: Rate Cuts)
The expectation for at least one cut of 1/4 point before the end of this year seems to be nearly universal, so let’s go with that for now. Here are some questions for consideration.
In Fed Chair Powell’s speech this past Wednesday, he spoke about Fed monetary policy and also talked about the role of the Federal Reserve. In addition, he referred directly to the matter of the Fed’s independence and the necessity of maintaining that independence. In effect, he warned Congress about efforts to involve the Fed politically or to attempt modification of the independent monetary policy role of the Fed.
Below are selected excerpts from the speech which are followed in turn by my comments…