Knowledge Is Power

Just because there is no regularly scheduled Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) this week does not mean various Fed members did not give their opinion on monetary policy.

Applications for US unemployment insurance rose for the first time in six weeks but remained historically low, suggesting demand for workers remains healthy despite an increasingly uncertain economic outlook.

The theme of this week (and maybe this year) is inflation. We received two key data points this week which showed that prices are rising, and there is little hope that they substantially decline anytime soon.

Banks [in China] are flush with cash, but are either unwilling or finding it difficult to finance projects. Credit demand weakened sharply in July, prompting some economists to warn of a “liquidity trap” in China, where low interest rates fail to spur lending in the economy. As Jeff in our office likes to say, “Stay Tuned!”