Federal Reserve

The legendary investor says we’re in the midst of the third major shift he’s seen in his 50-year career, as a decades-long low-interest-rate environment shifts to something most investors have not yet experienced. It’s a new world in which credit investors – and especially bargain hunters – should thrive.

After a punishing innings for her flagship ETF, ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood thinks investors need to stop living in the 70s. This time next year the Fed will be “running in the opposite direction” and deflation will dominate the market, she says.

Investors holding out for a monetary policy hero will have to keep holding out. And as regulators put out spot fires in the global banking system, they’ll need to reckon with the new behemoths they’ve made.

With annual inflation running at 9.1 per cent, a 41-year high, and a raft of Federal Reserve rate rises to follow, the risk of a hard landing for the US economy has risen sharply. A growing chorus of economists has given up hope that the Fed will be able to engineer a soft landing given its latest predictions.

Last week’s effort by the Federal Reserve to curb inflation by raising US rates by another 75 basis points will likely see inflation decline in 2023 and will likely tip the economy into recession.

Groundhog Day, markets down, unemployment falls, ARB’s run continues The ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) weakened another 0.3% today as Victoria plunged into its fifth lockdown and the outbreak continued to extend in NSW. Just two sectors finished higher, materials up 1.4% and utilities, 0.7%, with the latter benefitting from another 6.3% jump in Spark Infrastructure Group (ASX: SKI). The…

Strong day for the ASX, private equity buys into Challenger, NSW lockdowns continue  Every sector barring energy and industrials finished higher on Wednesday, with the ASX 200 jumping 0.9%. Buy now pay later groups were among the top performers, with Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) and Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) adding 6.5% and 4.5%, respectively. Challenger Financial Group (ASX: CGF) was the…

Inflation and rate rises are back on the table it seems, after this week’s US Federal Reserve Board meeting, Chairman Jerome Powell indicated that rate hikes could come in 2023, but no mention of when scaling back of bond buying would begin. His comments took markets by surprise signalling a change in policy sooner than…

ASX dragged down by US sell off, CBA sells general insurance arm, Boral out of the US The ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) followed global markets lower to begin the week, falling 1.8% after being as much as 2% lower during the session. Among the most significant detractors was the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), with Australia’s largest company…

Fifth straight weekly gain, tech back in favour, commodities tank, AUD weakens The ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) finished 0.1% higher on Friday as markets continued to digest this week’s change of heart from the Federal Reserve.  The IT sector overcame valuation concerns to jump 3.5% higher on Friday and 6.1% over the week. Leading the market was Afterpay (ASX: APT)…