4/2– Weekly Economic Highlights
4/2– Weekly Economic Highlights
3/26– Weekly Economic Highlights
3/26– Weekly Economic Highlights
3/19– Weekly Economic Highlights
The Federal Open Market Committee kept monetary policy unchanged at their meeting this week as expected, with the fed funds target rate in a range of 0.0% to 0.25%. The Fed also continues to purchase $80 billion of Treasuries per month, and $40 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities per month. The vote to keep policy […]
3/12– Weekly Economic Highlights
President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion fiscal relief plan yesterday, bringing the total amount of pandemic-related fiscal relief legislation in the last year to about $5.5 trillion. At this time last year, financial markets were in turmoil amid an uncertain global economic outlook. Over the past year, robust fiscal spending along with the Federal Reserve’s […]
March 2021 – Bond Market Review
Estimates for US gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year have been revised higher. The current Bloomberg consensus estimate for 2021 US GDP growth is 5.5% (following a 3.5% decline last year). Although the labor market is still a long way from a full recovery, robust fiscal support should help support the economy in the […]
3/5– Weekly Economic Highlights
U.S. nonfarm payrolls were stronger than expected in February, up 379,000, versus the Bloomberg consensus forecast of 200,000. January payrolls were also revised up by 117,000. Payrolls in the leisure and hospitality sector improved in February and were up 355,000, following a combined decline of 523,000 in December and January. The unemployment rate declined to […]
Qualified Institutional Buyer (QIB): What Is It and How Has It Changed?
You may be thinking to yourself “what is a Qualified Institutional Buyer (QIB), and why may it be relevant to me?” Well, I would like to answer those two questions in the most colorful way possible: first giving you some quick notes on the history of the Act within which the definition of a QIB […]
2/26– Weekly Economic Highlights
Treasury yields climbed this week, with the 10-year Treasury yield rising roughly 12 basis points from last Friday to 1.45% (up 54 basis points year-to-date), and the 5-year Treasury yield rising 19 basis points week-over-week to 0.77% (up 41 basis points year-to-date), at the time of this report. Meanwhile, the short end of the Treasury […]
2/19– Weekly Economic Highlights
Following a somewhat sluggish holiday shopping season, retail sales picked up in January assisted by another round of federal relief checks. On a year-over-year basis, retail sales were up 7.4% in January versus up 2.5% in December. On a month-over-month basis, retail sales jumped 5.3% in January, following a 1.0% decline in December and a […]
2/12– Weekly Economic Highlights
During a virtual presentation for the Economic Club of New York this week, Fed Chair Powell cautioned that the labor market remains a long way from a full recovery. He noted that the reported unemployment rate is dramatically understating the weakness, due in part to a significant decline in labor force participation. He said the […]