Fed At Odds With Markets Over Oil

Lior Alkalay - INO.com Contributor - Forex


At long last, the market finally got their long awaited Federal Reserve rate increase. Yesterday, the Fed hiked the Fed Funds rate by 25 basis points, from 0.25% to 0.5%. The Fed's famously watched "dot plot" revealed that most members expect at least four rate hikes in 2016. And investors? If interest rate swaps are any indication, then investors expect no more than two rate hikes next year.

So who is right then? The Fed? Or the market? Continue reading "Fed At Odds With Markets Over Oil"

Jobs Report Says No Rate Increase This Year

George Yacik - INO.com Contributor - Fed & Interest Rates


Friday’s jobs report was the final nail in the coffin for an interest rate increase in 2015.

I know I shouldn’t get carried away by one statistic, especially this early into the year. The nonfarm payrolls report is only one number – an important number, for sure, but still only one number – so one shouldn’t base his entire opinion on it. And I’m not. But the lackluster figure was just the latest evidence of just how weak the U.S. economy has gotten over the last several months and merely confirms the trend – with an exclamation point.

The Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls grew by only 126,000 in March, the smallest gain since December 2013. To add insult to injury, February’s increase was revised downward by more than 30,000 to 264,000. That brought down the average monthly gain in the first Continue reading "Jobs Report Says No Rate Increase This Year"