May 04,2018 United States: U.S.-China Trade Talks End With Key Differences Still Unresolved Two days of U.S.-China trade discussions ended in Beijing with an agreement to keep on talking, and little else. China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday afternoon that both sides reached a consensus on some trade issues while acknowledging major disagreements on
May 03,2018 United States: A Rare Treasury Yield-Curve Trade Emerges After Fed Decision The Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision sparked a move in the U.S. yield curve that’s been virtually absent of late. The spread between 5- and 30-year yields widened after the announcement to 33.6 basis points, the highest since April 27. Curve steepening is
May 02, 2018 United States: The U.S. Economy Has Hit a Milestone With the calendar’s turn from April to May, the U.S. economic expansion has become the nation’s second-longest on record. That milestone was reached as the Federal Reserve prepared to begin a two-day meeting in Washington on Tuesday. After a slow-but-steady slog over the
May 01,2018 United States: The U.S. Just Borrowed $488 Billion, a Record High for the First Quarter U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he’s unconcerned about the bond market’s ability to absorb rising government debt after his department said it borrowed a record amount for the first quarter. “It’s a very large, robust market --
April 30,2018 United States: Fed Far From Ready to Declare Mission Accomplished on Inflation The Federal Reserve is closing in on its elusive 2 percent inflation target but that doesn’t mean policy makers are ready to pronounce mission accomplished. The central bank’s preferred measure of inflation probably clocked in at that level last month after
April 27, 2018 United States: U.S. Growth Cools to 2.3% as Gains in Consumer Spending Ease U.S. economic growth cooled last quarter as consumers pulled back following outsize spending in the prior period, though solid business investment cushioned some of the weakness. Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced in the
April 26, 2018 United States: Fed at Odds With Itself as It Eases Bank Rules and Raises Rates Federal Reserve policy makers seem to be working at cross purposes. In laying out plans to ease some constraints imposed on banks after the financial crisis, the Fed is moving to free up tens of billions of
April 25, 2018 United States: Powell’s Policy Gambit Bets Job Market Stays Hot, Inflation Not Federal Reserve officials are sounding increasingly confident they can run the U.S. economy hot without a harmful rise of inflation, a risky gamble for Chairman Jerome Powell with unemployment low, price pressures edging higher and fiscal stimulus about to goose
April 24, 2018 United States: Bonds Steady as Dollar Rally Cools; Stocks Mixed: Markets Wrap The rise in U.S. Treasury yields appeared to stall on Tuesday, with the benchmark rate trading sideways after a selloff this week took it to within a whisker of 3 percent. Stocks in Europe struggled for traction following gains for
April 23, 2018 United States: America Is Going Even Deeper Into Debt How much debt can the U.S. government afford? Nobody knows for sure, but it’s pushing the envelope like never before -- or at least more than it has since World War II. In its latest Global Fiscal Monitor report, the International Monetary Fund
