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Pharmacist Shares How She Knew She Would Never Marry Her Ex-fiance
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Investopedia
The Federal Reserve Is In No Rush To Cut Rates, Powell Says
~2.2 mins read
From the point of view of the Federal Reserve, the economy is running smoothly. Now, the central bank’s goal is to keep it that way.In public remarks Monday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell framed the central bank’s decision to cut rates earlier this month as a move to keep a strong economy on sure footing rather than to rescue one that is faltering. Powell’s comments, delivered at a meeting of the National Association for Business Economics in Nashville, were his first on monetary policy since the Fed’s landmark decision to sharply cut its benchmark interest rate on Sept. 18.Financial market participants took Powell’s comments as throwing cold water on expectations for another sharp rate cut when the Fed’s policy committee next meets in November. Following Powell’s remarks, markets were pricing in a 36% chance the Federal Open Market Committee would cut its benchmark fed funds rate by 50 basis points at that meeting, as opposed to a smaller 25-point cut, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, which forecasts rate movements based on fed funds futures trading data. The previous business day, the tool put the odds of a larger cut at 53%.“This is not a committee that feels like it’s in a hurry to cut rates quickly,” Powell said. “It’s a committee that wants to be guided…by the incoming data.”
Since the Fed’s Sept. 18 meeting, economic data has reinforced the case that the U.S. economy is recovering smoothly from the burst of high inflation that took hold in 2021, prompting the Fed to rapidly raise its benchmark interest rate to discourage borrowing and spending. Inflation has cooled nearly to the Fed’s goal of a 2% annual rate, while the economy has stayed humming along—a scenario that economists call a “soft landing” as opposed to an economic crash.Powell pointed to a report on consumer spending released last week that included revisions to the previous year’s data. The revisions showed U.S. consumers have been making, spending and saving more money than previously thought. The data suggests that consumer spending—the main engine of the U.S. economy—is holding up well, he said.At the same time, the Fed is keeping a close eye on incoming economic data when planning its next interest rate moves. The central bank is trying to balance two priorities: keeping inflation under control and keeping unemployment from rising severely. Since 2022, the Fed has kept interest rates high, making all kinds of loans costlier, to cool the economy and quash inflation. With inflation having fallen significantly and employers having cut back on job openings, the Fed is now cutting interest rates.Powell said upcoming economic reports, including data on the labor market, would guide the committee’s decision making.“If the economy slows more than we expect, then we can cut faster,” he said. “If it slows less than we expect, we can cut slower. And that's really what's going to decide it.”
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Healthwatch
Torn Meniscus: Symptoms, Diagnosis, And Treatment Options
~0.4 mins read
January 29, 2025
By , Health Writer
  • Reviewed by Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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    Worldnews
    Mali Army Says 80 Fighters Killed After Earlier Al-Qaeda Linked Attacks
    ~1.5 mins read
    An al-Qaeda affiliate earlier claimed responsibility for ‘coordinated and high-quality attacks’ in the country. Mali’s armed forces have killed 80 fighters in response to a series of simultaneous and coordinated attacks on military posts across the country, according to a video statement released by the military. “The enemy suffered significant losses in every location where they engaged with the security and defence forces,” Souleymane Dembele, the army’s spokesperson, said in a special bulletin broadcast on the armed forces’ television channel, as visuals of fallen rebels, their weapons, motorbikes, and vehicles were displayed. Al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) earlier claimed responsibility for “coordinated and high-quality attacks”, saying it had taken control of three barracks and dozens of military positions. Mali’s armed forces said the attacks took place in seven towns in the central and western regions of the West African country. The incidents bore the hallmarks of other recent operations by the group, which has conducted similar assaults on military positions in Mali and Burkina Faso. Mali, governed by a military government since 2020, has for more than a decade fought violent groups linked to ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda, while contending with a longer history of Tuareg-led rebellions in the north. The attacks on Tuesday targeted Diboli in western Mali near the border with Senegal, and the nearby towns of Kayes and Sandere. There were also attacks in Nioro du Sahel and Gogoui, northwest of the capital Bamako near the border with Mauritania, and in Molodo and Niono in central Mali, “all struck by shellfire”, the army’s statement said. Residents and a local politician confirmed the attacks in at least four towns. “We woke up in shock this morning. There’s gunfire, and from my house I can see smoke billowing towards the governor’s residence,” one resident in the city of Kayes said. The person described the gunfire as “intense” while another reported sheltering at home while the assault raged on. Elsewhere, a local political official wrote on Facebook that “the region of Nioro woke up in shock” and that the towns of Nioro, Sandare and Gogui had been targeted. Follow Al Jazeera English:...
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