The Federal Reserve Open Markets Committee has concluded its October 31 - November 1 meeting, and it voted unanimously to hold interest rate unchanged at 5.25% to 5.50%.
The Fed's statement indicates that, while this is its second... Read →
Jerome Powell gave an interesting speech in front of the Economic Club of New York earlier today.
I think that there are at least three main takeaways from this speech that depositors need to consider.
First, the Fed may not be done... Read →
We've been fielding a lot of questions from readers about "variable CDs", "flexible rate CDs" or "indexed CDs". It seems that several banks and credit unions have been heavily promoting these products, and... Read →
It is impossible to watch the news today and not feel sorry for the scores of innocent people in Gaza who are unable to escape the territory due to the fact that they are being held hostage by Hamas and Egypt. Hamas has burrowed itself to... Read →
The Federal Reserve concluded its September 2023 meeting today, holding the Fed Funds rate at its current 5.25% to 5.50% target. The target rate remains at a 22 year high.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell did not declare victory in the war on... Read →
Image White House Reception for 2007 Nobel awards recipients (Wikipedia)
I am fairly sure that we would not be in quite the dire climate catastrophe that we are in now if Al Gore had won the 2000 US Presidential election (and as a corollary, I blame Ralph Nader's maniacal third party candidacy for the... Read →
Image Photo by Harry Murphy/Web Summit via Sportsfile (Wikipedia)
Bloomberg is reporting today on statements made by Ray Dalio, the owner Bridgewater, of the world's largest hedge fund, in Singapore yesterday.
Dalio is reported to have said, "Temporarily, right now cash is good." And,... Read →
The Fed has moved vigorously to try to reign in inflation in 2022 and 2023. After 15 years of low interest rates that have fueled dramatic US economic growth, Chairman Powell and the Fed have acted aggressively to move the Fed funds target... Read →
It isn’t hard to earn 5% on savings today. There are tons of online banks with savings and money market offers at or over that level. You can also find local banks and credit unions that are equally competitive.
Compare online... Read →
The Federal Reserve has raised the Fed Funds target rate to 5.25% to 5.50% after a much anticipated quarter point raise. This is the highest Fed target rate in 22 years.
The Federal Reserve had paused following its June meeting, but... Read →
In this Bloomberg piece, published today, Bill Dudley makes a compelling case against raising the FDIC insurance limit from the current $250,000 per account (learn more about FDIC coverage here).
First, Dudley recognizes the importance... Read →
A couple of months ago, I spent the day at a climate change conference at Columbia Business School, my alma mater. Columbia has more than a couple dozen professors, backed by scores of data scientists and McKinsey-type advisors using the... Read →
I had the pleasure of staying at both the Andaz and the JW Marriott resorts in Guanacaste during my visit last week to Costa Rica. For those seeking a great resort to get away from it all using hotel points, these are both great... Read →
Today's FOMC statement says that the Fed is holding its target Fed Funds rate at 5% to 5.25%. The decision was unanimous among voting members.
While today's action marks the first Federal Reserve meeting in this cycle to end... Read →
The national debt is poised to move into completely unchartered territory. Assuming the US remains one contiguous country, we are going to move from $31 trillion in outstanding US liabilities to somewhere in the $35-$36 trillion range over... Read →