It’s unclear at this point what is going to happen in the U.S. Capitol–will the Senate find compromise on the House budget bill? Will the debt limit be raised? Will the standoff continue?–and investors of all stripes are watching closely. Gold prices have been a roller coaster for the past week, spiking after news the…
Surprise Announcement from Fed Sparks Metals Rally
Much to the world’s surprise, the Federal Reserve announced this past Wednesday that it would not be tapering its bond purchases, or what most of us know as Quantitative Easing. Many expected the Fed to announce a reduction of bond purchases from $85 billion a month, but when the announcement wasn’t what investors had expected,…
Fed Puts Tapering Plans On Hold
Precious metals had been dipping for days, but on Wednesday, commodities, stocks and bonds began to rally after the Federal Reserve’s decision to continue its $85 billion bond-buying program. With the economy improving slower than the Fed had hoped, policymakers voted to continue monthly purchases until progress of the economy could be sustained. Back in…
Summers Removes Name From Fed Consideration
Larry Summers has withdrawn his name from consideration for the Federal Reserve Chairman position. Current Fed chair Ben Bernanke is expected to step away when his term ends in January, and Summers was considered by many to be the favorite to replace him. Summers, an economic adviser for the White House and former Treasury secretary,…
Tapering Still Planned for 2013
July saw another meeting for the Federal Reserve and talks of quantitative easing (QE3) continued to be the focus. When the June minutes were released, members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) were split on the idea of tapering stimulus by the end of the year. Judging by Wednesday’s release of the July 30-31…
Monetary Policy: A Guide for the Average Consumer
Monetary policy: a simple enough phrase that defines centuries of complex, archaic theories explaining how a government should control its wealth in order to benefit the economy. Most countries have their own individual monetary policies, and in turn, each policy affects the others. Monetary Policy: A Definition So in simplistic terms, what exactly is monetary policy? Essentially,…
