Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren said Wednesday the central bank moved rapidly to address deterioration across multiple parts of the financial market that were crippled due to the coronavirus crisis. “At the central bank we’re focused on addressing, and blunting, the economic effects of the pandemic,” Rosengren said in remarks prepared for an online […]
Tag: Breaking news
Fed moves to help businesses get short-term funding in commercial paper market
The Federal Reserve said Tuesday it is providing help to companies that are having a hard time getting the short-term funding they need to operate. In a move much anticipated on Wall Street, the bank announced a special credit facility to purchase corporate paper from issuers that have been having a difficult time finding buyers […]
Federal Reserve cuts rates to zero and launches massive $700 billion quantitative easing program
The Federal Reserve, saying “the coronavirus outbreak has harmed communities and disrupted economic activity in many countries, including the United States,” cut interest rates to essentially zero on Sunday and launched a massive $700 billion quantitative easing program to shelter the economy from the effects of the virus. The new fed funds rate, used as […]
The Fed details moves to buy Treasurys across all durations, starting with 30-year bond
The New York Federal Reserve will begin buying Treasurys across the yield spectrum as part of its efforts to help the financial system through the coronavirus scare. In an announcement Friday, the central bank said it was accelerating to Friday purchases it announced a day before. The move comes in response to market demand that […]
‘America should stay at work,’ despite coronavirus, Larry Kudlow says
National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said Friday that U.S. workers should continue going to work despite the coronavirus outbreak. Kudlow discussed the outbreak Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” saying Americans should remain calm. “I don’t want to downplay anything. Worry about the effect on human beings, for heaven’s sake. But I’m just […]
Wall Street sees chance of interest rates falling to zero by summer
With the Federal Reserve expected to act soon in response to the coronavirus scare, there’s a chance that the central bank could take policy back to where it was during the financial crisis. Goldman Sachs economists said Sunday they see the Fed cutting rates by 50 basis points by its March meeting or sooner, and […]
Square emerges as coronavirus hedge after earnings
Jack Dorsey, chief executive officer of Square Inc., second right, tours the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015. Yana Paskova | Bloomberg | Getty Images Square has been an outlier in this week’s payment stock wreckage. Shares of Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Paypal […]
Free trading fuels rampant speculation in stocks
Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveils the Cybertruck at the TeslaDesign Studio in Hawthorne, Calif. The cracked window glass occurred during a demonstration on the strength of the glass. Robert Hanashiro | USA TODAY | Reuters Small investors are flocking to high-flying growth stocks after the brokerage industry made trading free. In the months since major […]
Low rates have had only a ‘modest’ impact on stock market prices
The Federal Reserve’s extraordinary policy moves over the last 12 years have marched arm-in-arm with the biggest bull market in Wall Street history. But the central bank’s economists say the two really have little in common. As part of the ongoing discussion Fed officials are having about the effectiveness of past policy and the proper […]
Rate cut expectations will fade as coronavirus fear eases
Markets expecting an interest rate cut are reacting to the coronavirus scare and likely will reverse once the fear starts to fade, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Friday. Central bank officials have indicated that they are content to keep policy on hold as they watch economic developments play out. However, traders in the […]