The Federal Reserve has indicated that they will continue to hike up interest rates in spite of criticism from president Donald Trump and others who see the hike as damaging to the economy. The Feds officials are dedicated to the belief that rising rates will contribute to a more stable economy.
If you have student loans, credit card debt, or a home equity line of credit, you may be seeing the cost of those loans jump up yet again. A summary of the September 25-26 Federal Open Market Committee session reflected both confidence in the rate of economic growth and some hesitancy over the impact that tariffs might have on the future path, according to a report by CNBC.
Unfortunately, ultimately, the committee unanimously voted to approve a quarter-point hike to its benchmark rate target, with members indicating that more increases are on the way. The increase took the target range to 2 percent to 2.25 percent. Although this news isn’t exactly new, it has now begun to have a negative effect on the wallets of some Americans and on the federal government. As the government continues to commit suicide with their rising national debt, soon, just the interest on the debt will surpass the United States’ bloated military budget.
“With regard to the outlook for monetary policy beyond this meeting, participants generally anticipated that further gradual increases in the target range for the federal funds rate would most likely be consistent with a sustained economic expansion, strong labor market conditions, and inflation near 2 percent over the medium term,” the minutes read.
Even though Trump has criticized the rising rates, the Fed turned the tables on him, saying his policies aren’t much better. “Despite this optimism [over a strong economy], a number of contacts cited factors that were causing them to forego production or investment opportunities in some cases, including labor shortages and uncertainty regarding trade policy,” the minutes said. “In particular, tariffs on aluminum and steel were cited as reducing new investment in the energy sector. Contacts also suggested that firms were attempting to diversify the set of countries with which they trade — both imports and exports — as a result of uncertainty over tariff policy,” the summary added.
The move to hike rates again is in keeping with recent remarks from several Fed officials, who appear to be veering away from targeting a longer-run “neutral” rate that is neither restrictive nor accommodative and instead, letting economic data and financial conditions be the guide. The minutes note that all future policy moves would “depend on the evaluation of incoming information and its implications for the economic outlook. “In this context, estimates of the level of the neutral federal funds rate would be only one among many factors that the Committee would consider in making its policy decisions.”
It’s all part of the plan. Take it down. Take it down. Take it down.
TRUMP’S Tariffs will have a much more suppressing effect upon the economy than a quarter point rate hike. In the scheme of things, its nothing.
Most likely this will continue the ratcheting down of the stock markets and that’s a good thing because EPS do not support the elevation that markets have demonstrated in the recent past.
A quarter point rate hike is a good thing. 🙂
Rate hikes will crash credit weighted sections of the economy, not just stocks. We’re seeing this already in the housing and car markets. This is a deliberate torpedo to the economy by the banksters. In other words, not a good thing. Durango is an “old faithful” poster here at SHTF; you can always depend on him to be wrong.
“Torpedo” is too strong a word. A quarter point is not a big deal and yes it is designed to TEMPER the enthusiasm in the markets which is not supported by earnings, trigger a correction, and diffuse a crash.
Additional rate increases would likely “torpedo” the economy as you say, next year, but this rate hike is not the explosion you seek. It remains to be seen whether additional rate hikes will be imposed beyond this one.
As far as suppressing other “credit rated sections of the economy”, I don’t agree. If anything, the FED has used the slack in demand as satiated consumers pull back from additional purchases to move toward more normal rates.
For example, Housing the main driver of the economy, was already tanking evidenced by price drops I have mentioned here over the past few months and existing home sales have dropped for the past seven months.
The business cycle has already ended and the FED is using the decline to normalize rates. The FED is BEHIND the curve not in front of it. 🙂
Anyone see this?
TRUMP TO MAKE PLAN TO NATIONALIZE FEDERAL RESERVE?
If one looks at it it was “nationalized” prior to 1913.
Kevin2, great news. I hope we return to sovereign control of our money before the Federal Reserve can take our economy & currency down the proverbial “bowl” (the bowl with swirling water, explanation for the snowflakes).
Forget nationalizing the FED. Nationalizing is too good for them. Kill the FED. Andrew Jackson did it. We need to ban the FED. Make all central banks illegal, immoral, unethical, and unconstitutional. KILL THE FED.
The Fed Resrv is basically dead, and their phony IOU Paper is becoming worthless. Get into precious metals, land, and prep supplies for the long haul. Also get out of all debt. Sell your stocks and pay off all your debts and mortgage.
Today’s Headlines: Venezuela Ditches US Dollar, Will Use Euros For International Trade
Pres Putin Nailed it a few weeks ago when Trump was complaining to Saudi to lower gas prices. Putin said how about you take off the boycotts and Economic sanctions off Venezuela.. Let the free market dictate oil prices, not the Saudi Royal Family.
Saudi will also ditch the US Dollar, which is the only real support for the dollar. Its going down folks you all better be prepared for the dollar crashing to zero.
“Today’s Headlines: Venezuela Ditches US Dollar, Will Use Euros For International Trade”.
This move by Venezuela only shows how desperate it is and how close to TOTAL COLLAPSE its economy has come. On the flip side, the EU needs more users of its currency if the EURO is to remain a viable currency in international trade at all.
“Saudi will also ditch the US Dollar, which is the only real support for the dollar. Its going down folks you all better be prepared for the dollar crashing to zero.”
This assertion is completely false as I have explained on many occasions; and WHY. TSB has his head up his ass again, as usual, which explains his shit for brain predictions. Let’s remember that he was the fool who repeatedly claimed that the Yuan was back by gold despite overwhelming evidence that it is not.
Wishing upon a star does not make your fantasies come true. 🙂
The federal reserve people are Obama Democrats. They will intentionally cause economic collapse so Trump can be blamed.
Think about it: The ENTIRE Obama presidency the interest rate was ZERO. And the economy still sucked.
Trump gets into office and things start changing, including the massive tax cuts, so to keep him from having a good economy, raise the rates.
Remember the Bob Dole vs Bill Clinton election? “It’s the economy, stupid”
John. You really should stick to food storage and guns. Your understanding of the economy is lacking at best. The economy didn’t turn on a dime and the a lot of the world economy was at zero or negative rates. The fed is not composed of Obama dems and trump appointed the chair. The fed really is trying to not let inflation get out of control. The fed is damned if the do or don’t act. Trump will blame them for the collapse if they raise the rates to counter the inflation caused by trumps tax breaks ( artificial juicing of the economy). If they wait and inflation gets a footing, trump would blame them for not acting. Trump always leaves himself an out.
Bitch McConnell is going to destroy Medicare and social security. His words.
The fed isn’t perfect, Obama certainly wasn’t perfect and trump is robbing us blind. Blame the right people. Blame the entire government. Good luck with the economics hobby.
“Think about it: The ENTIRE Obama presidency the interest rate was ZERO. And the economy still sucked.”
The phony economy of ultra low interest rates fueling the economy with emphasis on housing collapsed in 2008. It literally destroyed billions, if not a trillion in wealth created by fractional reserve banking. This holding down interest rates came into effect post free trade agreements. It held off the decline in employment, and likely a severe recession / depression by boosting purely domestic employment significantly in construction and related activities.
In the end, each bit of meddling holding back the enviable requires increased meddling to hold back the enviable. The Federal Reserve are financial alchemists desiring to turn “water into wine”. Central Control of the economy isn’t capitalism.
Looks like Trump is positioning to have the Fed blamed for what the Fed does.
“…holding back the enviable…”? Just what is enviable that all this meddling is holding back? If it is able to be envied, is it something that should be encouraged, rather than held back?
jackdaniels
A real economy depends upon productivity and creating wealth. at one time it was largely accomplished by value adding manufacturing. This has been bypassed and deficits replaced production. Normally inflation would be the result (otherwise every nation would do it). The US had the unique carry over from Bretton Woods gold backed USD being the worlds reserve currency. It became very unique being its gold backing ended August 1971. The US then used force, initially economic manipulation but in the end the threat of military use to ostensibly “protect” or threaten those not on the same page.
Enviable:
Because the above is not indefinitely sustainable. Attempting to sustain it requires increasingly greater use of trickery (debt) and force (wars for bullshit ostensible reasons). As both progress their inherent downsides reduce their continued viability of usefulness; hence un-sustainability.
The Federal Reserve is complicit in maintaining this charade. So yes its keeping the scam we live under going. Its removal would not be painless because everything is predicated upon it functioning. I suspect the dynamics of such, which will happen regardless by its self destruction, abandoning the USD “unique” reserve currency status, will end up as the catalyst for global war.
“…holding back the enviable…”
Sure you don’t mean “inevitable”?
My apologies if not…
JRS
Thanks. oops.
Well anyway my point came across I think
Yes sir John, agree completely. Remember bout a week or two ago, a bunch of talking heads came out and said in about a year and a half, maybe 2 years, there’s gonna be a “correction” (collapse) worse that the Great Depression? TPTB are outright telling everyone what they’re gonna do.
“The federal reserve people are Obama Democrats. ”
This isn’t a Democrat v Republican battle. It’s a globalist (Internationalist) v populist (America First). The Neo-Conservatives represented by the Bush’s are on the same team as the liberals represented by the Clintons.
Look at the timing of the latest George Soros funded Caravan. A record number of illegals trying to get into the United States just before mid-term elections. Tell this is not “part of the plan.”
And this time these illegals are carrying their flag. That is one country invading another. That makes this caravan an invasion of the United States. Time to defend our borders with the military. That’s their job.
In the US, 1 in 9 people don’t speak English in their homes. You try to call your Senator, or Congress-person, or the phone company, or the electric company and you have to choose between English or Spanish. This is bulls*t.
Legal immigration worldwide is broken. Close the borders. Arrest these unelected rogue billionaires. Declare them enemies of the state. Strip them of their assets. Deport them.
Tell these South American countries to get their act together or we will take them over.
Enough is enough.
When they don’t raise rates, people bitch that they don’t raise them and savers can’t earn interest income. They do raise and people bitch about the stock market and their 401k. They can’t win either way. They have to raise so they can drop in the next downturn. What? no one thinks the market will ever turn negative. That would be nice, but impossible.
I’m glad to see this rate increase stuff, been waiting for 10 years to see any “return” on my savings, I don’t know about or have jack in some market thing. So yeah, raise them damned rates so I can lock in for a while.
btw I vote “R” only, (its a 2nd amendment thing….)
Whether it is the Fed or the national government in charge of fiat currency production and distribution, so long as either can ‘print money from thin air’ the writing is on the wall: economic collapse. Diminishing returns on a finite planet guarantees it.
I don’t know squat about economics. With that in mind, I have to keep it simple or I get confused.
If this situation was dropped in my lap I would leave it alone with just a few changes.
1. Mint coins using real metals.
a. Copper pennies
b. Nickel nickels
c. Silver dimes, silver quarters, silver half dollars, silver dollars
d. Gold coins from smaller than a dime to as large as a silver dollar valued at $5,$10,$20,$50,$100,$500,$1,000
So, it would be good bye to paper money for better or worse. Your wallet would have to be exchanged for a coin purse.
I would also outlaw compound interest on loans. I would set a fee of 5% to be paid by the borrower. If he borrows $100.00, he pays $5.00 to the lender first. That’s it. As you might have guessed, there would not be much to gain by lending money, and alot to lose. So, lending and borrowing would be almost non-existent. Which is OK by me. There would be very little to gain financially by starting a war. Also OK. Bankers would be the only ones upset with such an arrangement but everyone else would benefit.
Since I have no authority to do these things all I can do is turn my paper money into silver and gold by saving paper notes and buying silver and gold, supplies, real estate and land.
_
Compounding interest and the amortization are downright theft, evil as hell and unBiblical.
Paper money IS going away as phone apps make “pay by phone” the easiest way to pay. That’s happening now, and it’s volume of transactions is only going to increase over time as Millenials are too stupid to recognize their own financial enslavement.
The Founding Fathers never imagined that Americans would trade their privacy & their freedom for convenience. That’s the ugly reality.
Real money is SOOOOOO yesterday !!! 🙁
Trump cannot unilaterally expunge the Federal Reserve banking system. They have an open ended charter that can only be revoked by the Congress.
When first chartered, they had a twenty year charter. Before that expired, Congress voted to give them an infinite charter unless they voted to cancel it.
Good luck on getting any votes to end the Fed…one from Senator Paul, but that’s about it. They know who’s in charge and so does Trump. He’s a Wall Street crony.
So, another state interest, nursing from the state’s teat, is in purported competition with her. Just like student protestors and Holder’s sons and Communist medicine and all the other swamp people, who you are not supposed to like, yet just can’t get rid of them. Who made who? We were told that what Barry did hiw digital pen, you would undo, as by executive fiat — not keep a holding pattern.
Citizens support The President.
If the PRESIDENT OF USA
has NO CONTROL over THE FED
who does ?
Coongress
Actually neither. The Federal Reserve isn’t Federal nor does it have a Reserve. Its status of a quasi government / private entity isn’t accurate. They are not a government agency as can be seen by this statement:
Freedom of Information Requests
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is not an agency as defined by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and is therefore not subject to the provisions of FOIA. However, the New York Fed is committed to complying with the spirit of FOIA.
Trump always finds away to enrich himself and his family. Everyone else can just eat Cake.
Seize the Federal Reserve, arrest the board members, repatriate the trillions in stolen dollars under the threat of military invasion wherever those funds are parked and hold military tribunals for the treasonous bankers and politicians.
Presto.