The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets again this week to review economic conditions and set monetary policy. On whether the Fed should end quantitative easing or extend it, Atlanta Fed chairman Dennis Lockhart recently said that the Fed should remain flexible given the rising energy prices, which could be a sign of coming inflation. Either at this meeting or the next, the Fed could signal that interest rates will rise as a hedge against inflation.

Inflation will also be the focus when the Department of Labor releases the Producer Price Index (PPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) this week. Back in January the core PPI (which excludes energy and food costs) had its biggest jump in two years, and the core CPI had its largest uptick in more than year, the second month in a row in which consumer prices jumped.

Continue reading Week in Preview: Inflation, the FOMC and Nike Earnings

Week in Preview: Inflation, the FOMC and Nike Earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 13 Mar 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart put forth his proposal for a new round of quantitative easing, dubbed QE2. He sees the Fed purchasing $100 billion in treasuries per month. Lockhart made his statement in an interview on CNBC and is reported by Reuters.

Lockhart is the third Fed official to come forth in favor of easing. Last week we heard from Charles Evans and William Dudley who both favor QE2.

Continue reading Fed's Lockhart Says Easing of $100 Billion per Month Sought

Fed's Lockhart Says Easing of $100 Billion per Month Sought originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Fed's Lockhart: Interest Rates May Have to Rise Even Amid High Unemployment

Fed's Lockhart: Interest Rates May Have to Rise Even Amid High Unemployment originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Atlanta Fed's Lockhart: Accommodative Policy Is Appropriate

Atlanta Fed's Lockhart: Accommodative Policy Is Appropriate originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Atlanta Fed's Lockhart Sees Modest U.S. GDP Growth in 2010, Gradual Unwinding of Easing

Atlanta Fed's Lockhart Sees Modest U.S. GDP Growth in 2010, Gradual Unwinding of Easing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, as economists surveyed by Bloomberg News expect, cuts interest rates at least twice this year, will the good times start to roll? Not quite.

As BusinessWeek points out, life after the rate cut might not be a bowl of cherries. "The nightmare scenario for the Fed is that it cuts interest rates and only manages to get the markets worried about higher inflation without reviving the economy," the magazine says. "That's a recipe for stagflation."

The impact of the rate cuts on the economy won't been apparent for about six months, Edward Jones Investment Strategist Alan Skrainka told USA Today, adding that the Fed's action won't bail out homeowners who are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure nor will it make banks more willing to lend.

But the risks of a recession are too large to ignore.

Continue reading A Fed rate cut is no utopia

A Fed rate cut is no utopia originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 11 Sep 2007 07:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.