Yellen’s iron grip makes her peers look feeble
Janet Yellen’s Economic Club of New York speech provided a timely reminder that the Fed continues to dictate markets. This contrasts with the waning credibility of her counterparts in Europe and Japan.
Federal Reserve
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Is this final market wave about to hit the rocks?
Global equity markets are experiencing their worst start to the year since 2008. While some are fearing this is the start of a bear market, others believe markets are oversold and equities now look at their most compelling in years. There are valid arguments on both sides, but some seem more right than others.
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Fed hits right notes as rates rise for the first time in nine years
About the right amount of ‘dovishness’ seems to be the initial verdict from market commentators pronouncing on what had been billed as the biggest event in financial markets since the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
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Fund buyers crave for Fed rate hike
This Wednesday, investors’ eyes are once again on the Fed, which is widely expected to deliver its first rate hike since 2006. Across Europe, fund selectors have been impatiently waiting for this for months. There is one exception though: investors in Scandinavia prefer the FOMC to defer a first rate hike to next year.
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Will Fed rate rise be a one hit wonder?
There appears no way back now that Janet Yellen and her Federal Reserve colleagues have all but committed to raising rates on 16 December, and a quarter point rise is largely priced into markets already.
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Fed hikes and imaginary monsters
I am out of ideas. Over the past few weeks a growing sense of déjà vu has crept into everything I have tried to write.
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On the crossroads of migration and investing
People tend to dedicate most of their time to thinking through short-term solutions. While central banks saw QE as the easiest way to provide an imminent boost to their ailing economies, the current migration crisis is just as much a product of short-termist thinking.
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Fed must hike rates now, say Finnish fund selectors
Just like all their European counterparts, apart from the dovish Swedes and Danes, Finland’s fund buyers want to see a US rate hike sooner rather than later. But what does that mean for emerging markets, one of their favourite places to invest at the moment?
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Dutch fund buyers are ‘Fed up’
A rate rise by the Fed is long overdue, fund selectors in the Netherlands believe. Fund managers attending the Expert Investor Netherlands conference agreed and fiercely criticised the central bank for its alleged ‘backward guidance’.
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Belgian fund selectors give up on bonds
The vast majority of fund selectors from Belgium expect their bond portfolios to return between 0 and 2% annually over the next 5 years, even though they are adding risk.
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The Fed has set a dangerous precedent
In holding interest rates at rock bottom this week, the Federal Reserve has set a dangerous precedent which may come back to haunt it, and the global economy.
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‘All bets off’ on Fed’s next rate rise
The US Federal Reserve’s decision to hold interest rates in the 0-0.25% target range was met with muted response by investors, not surprised by the dovish tone.