Despite a weak jobs report earlier this month
QE3
The Great Housing Rebound of 2012: How the Fed Helped Sellers Beat the Odds
Without a doubt, the U.S. housing market has been the most successful sector of the economy this year, and Wednesday’s Case-Shiller home-price index report — which showed a fifth consecutive month of year-over-year increases in …
More Signs of Strength in Housing: Does Bernanke Get the Credit?
It’s an election season cliché to forewarn an ideological opponent that he is not entitled to his own facts. But when it comes to the economy, it would seem one is entitled to his own facts. Or to be more precise, that there …
Why Risk is Back in Fashion
Fed Chief Ben Bernanke’s strategy for making risk fashionable is gaining traction. Affluent investors are jumping off the sidelines and home prices are getting a lift. We’re not out of the woods by a long shot. But do you really …
Too Much Candy: A Plain-and-Simple Way to Understand Quantitative Easing, Part 3
Listening to Ben Bernanke announcing the Fed’s decision to buy mortgage-backed bonds until hell freezes over, I’m reminded of a British cartoon character called Billy Bunter. Bunter was a portly schoolboy who made a point
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Ben Bernanke’s Heavy Artillery: Will Open-Ended Bond Buying Drive Down Unemployment?
Ben Bernanke and made an open-ended commitment yesterday to purchase mortgage-backed securities at a rate of $40 billion per month, aiming to inflate asset prices and pump fresh credit into the economy. The move answers critics …
Bernanke Stands Pat: No New QE (For Now)
While most Americans have their minds squarely fixed on beach and barbecue plans this weekend, market participants had their eyes an ears affixed to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech this morning in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The …
As the Fiscal Cliff Nears, Will Anyone Swerve?
Will Ben Bernanke Pull the Trigger on More Bond Buying?
The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy brain trust – the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) — meets again today, and after a month of disappointing economic news following June’s meeting, the financial world is eagerly …
QE3 Watch: Will Slowing Jobs Picture Spur More Fed Stimulus?
Friday’s jobs report painted a disappointing picture about the U.S. employment situation, but it shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. Last week, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that the economy is not growing fast enough …
Bernanke’s Speech Has the Market Buzzing with QE3 Hopes
The U.S. economy needs to grow faster to maintain job market momentum, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a speech Monday; as a result, the Fed will continue its low-interest rate policy, hoping to spur consumer demand …
Could the Fed Spark the Housing Market?
Is the Federal Reserve going to start buying bonds again to stimulate the economy? Some 69% of economists polled in a Bloomberg News survey think so, with 36% of those tagging the first quarter of 2012 as the time for such action.