InvestWithAlex.com 

The FED Continues To Impress With Stupidity

In another point of reference that, once again, proves without a shadow of a doubt that the FED doesn’t know what is happening within our economy and our financial markets, the FED is talking about accelerating tightening.  Of course, exactly at the wrong time.

You see, most of the damage from their loose monetary policy since 2008-09 has already been done. They have already distorted most of the markets to the 10th degree and with speculation running rampant, the worst thing they can do now is to stop or tighten. Doing so will collapse all markets.

Believe it or not, even though markets are surging higher and the economy seems to be doing better, we are on a verge of a vicious bear market and a deep recession within our economy. That is based on my mathematical and timing work. In fact, it would be wise to be liquidating all of your long positions as we speak.  You can read an in depth report on this matter HERE. If you would like to know the exact structure of the upcoming bear market, please CLICK HERE. 

Did you enjoy this article? If so, please share our blog with your friends as we try to get traction. Gratitude!!!


Click here to subscribe to my mailing list

 

The FED Continues To Impress With Stupidity Google

stupid fed

(Reuters) – The Federal Reserve may find its monetary policies quickly becoming overly easy if it sticks to the current pace of reductions to its bond-buying program in the face of a growing U.S. economy, a top Fed official said on Thursday.

“If the economy continues to improve, we could find ourselves still trying to increase accommodation in an environment in which history suggests that policy should perhaps be moving in the opposite direction,” Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Plosser said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum in London.

“Reducing the pace of asset purchases in measured steps is moving in the right direction, but the pace may leave us well behind the curve if the economy continues to play out according to the (Fed’s) forecasts.”

Since the onset of the Great Recession and throughout the more than four years since its end, Fed has kept interest rates near zero and has bought trillions of dollars of long-term assets in order to suppress borrowing costs and boost investment and hiring.

Late last year, in a nod to the improving economic and labor market outlook, the U.S. central bank took its first step toward easing up on the monetary gas pedal by trimming its current round of bond buying and signaling it could end purchases altogether later this year.

But the hawkish head of the Philadelphia Fed worries the wind-down will take too long, if, as he expects, the economy grows about 3 percent in 2014, pushing down the jobless rate to at least 6.2 percent by the end of this year and “plausibly” even below 6 percent.

Plosser’s forecast for growth falls squarely inside the 2.8 percent to 3.2 percent forecast range from the majority of Fed officials.

“As the expansion gains traction, the challenge will be to reduce accommodation and to normalize policy in a way that ensures that inflation remains close to our target, that the economy continues to grow, and that we avoid sowing the seeds of another financial crisis,” Plosser said.

“While there continues to be some downside risk to growth, for the first time in years, I see the potential for more upside risk to the economic outlook. We need to consider this possibility as we calibrate monetary policy.”

The economy grew at a 2.4 percent pace last quarter, and recent soft economic data suggests growth may have since slowed. But Plosser cautioned against reading too much into recent weakness, chalking most of it up to severe winter weather.

That’s a view shared by many at the Fed.

Most investors expect the central bank to look past the soft data and continue to reduce its bond-buying program by $10 billion per month at each meeting, setting it on course to end the program before the year is out. The Fed next meets to discuss policy in less than two weeks.

But Plosser, who votes this year on the Fed’s policy-setting meeting and is among the most hawkish of the nation’s central bankers, wants to ratchet back super-easy policies more rapidly than most of his colleagues.

Unlike many of his colleagues, who predict it could take years for inflation to return to normal levels, Plosser said Thursday he sees upside risks to inflation, now languishing at just above half of the Fed’s 2-percent target.

Plosser also called for the Fed to remake its guidance to markets for how long it will keep rates low, because the current promise, to keep them low until well beyond the time the unemployment rate falls to 6.5 percent, has lost any usefulness.

The U.S. unemployment rate stands at 6.6 percent.

He reiterated his view that the Fed should strive to follow monetary policy rules, reduce its reliance on discretionary decisions, and pull back from the aggressive intervention that has marked its actions since the financial crisis.

Federal Reserve Pledges More Stupidity

The Washington Post Writes: Federal Reserve considers explicit pledge: Low rates if inflation stays down

bernanke meme

The Federal Reserve is leaning toward an explicit commitment to keep interest rates at rock-bottom levels, as long as inflation remains low.

The pledge would be an attempt to strengthen assurance that the central bank will not tap the brakes on the recovery until it is certain that the momentum can be sustained. The Fed already has vowed not to raise rates — a move that would slow economic growth — at least until the unemployment rate falls to 6.5 percent or inflation rises above 2.5 percent.

Read The Rest Of The Article Here

There are a couple of things in this article that drive me up the wall.

  • We are not in an inflationary environment,  we are in a deflationary environment. The only reason you we are seeing inflation in certain parts of the economy is due to the FED printing a massive amounts of money ($85 Billion/monthly) and dumping it into the financial system by keeping interest rates artificially low. If that wasn’t happening we would already see clear signs of deflation.
  • The FED is punishing savers and true economic growth by keeping interest rates too low for far too long. All while developing significant economic imbalances that will have to be deflated at a later date.  The situation is made worse by creating an environment where only people with access to cheap financing benefit. At the same time the US poverty rate is at all time high or close to 50 Million people. 
  • The article assumes that the FED is in complete control of interest rates. At least for now everyone believes that. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth. While the FED can influence the rates, it cannot control it. The market controls the rates. 

This in return presents a trading opportunity for those who think otherwise. Eventually the interest rates will move independent of the FED and destroy the whole scheme in the process.

When will it happen?

Actually, it might be already happening as interest rates already up 100% over the last 12 months. Is the FED finally losing control? I hope so. In the long run it would be great for the US Economy. 

Did you enjoy this article? If so, please share our blog with your friends as we try to get traction. Gratitude!!!