South China Morning Post (September 17)
“What is clear is that while the US is putting pressure on Japanese monetary policy, Japan could end up putting global markets under more strain.” Aside from undermining the Bank of Japan’s credibility, the outside pressure could “cause the yen carry trade… to unwind,” leaving especially exposed “technology-heavy stock markets such as South Korea and Taiwan.” Moreover the “higher Japanese bond yields could draw capital away from the US Treasury market, which is already under pressure because of the Fed’s hawkish pivot.”
Tags: BOJ, Bond yields, Carry trade, Clear, Credibility, Exposed, Fed, Global markets, Japan, Monetary policy, Pressure, South Korea, Strain, Taiwan, U.S., Undermining, Unwind, Yen
Wall Street Journal (September 16)
“The Federal Reserve raised interest rates Wednesday for the first time in three years, a sharp reversal that began taking back cuts it made last year.” The decision to “raise the benchmark federal-funds rate range by a quarter point to between 3.75% and 4%” was unanimous and most “officials penciled in one more hike this year in interest-rate projections released after their meeting.”
Tags: 3.75%, Benchmark, Decision, Fed, Federal-funds rate, Hike, Interest rates, Projections, Quarter-point, Raise, Reversal, Unanimous
Barron’s (September 14)
“AI stocks aren’t alone when it comes to being sensitive to interest rates; equities in general tend to be reactive” and they also averse to the “potential chilling effect on demand” of higher rates. Though expectations are that “the Fed will raise rates when the FOMC announces its monetary policy decision,” the resilience of the economy this year provides “a hopeful thought for anyone dreading a rate hike.”
Tags: AI, Averse, Chilling effect, Demand, Dreading, Economy, Equities, Expectations, Fed, FOMC, Hike, Interest rates, Monetary policy, Reactive, Resilience, Sensitive, Stocks
Reuters (September 11)
“Analysts at JPMorgan now expect eight of the nine developed-market central banks to hike interest rates by the year end, including the Fed, BOJ, all four central banks in Europe, and the reserve banks of Australia and New Zealand.”
Tags: Analysts, Australia, BOJ, Central banks, Developed market, Europe, Fed, Hike, Interest rates, JPMorgan, Reserve banks, Year end
New York Times (September 8)
“Investors are bracing for more inflation data this week that could persuade the Fed to raise its benchmark lending rate for the first time in three years. That uncertainty is roiling the bond market, just as rising oil and copper prices (more on copper below) threaten to pinch households and businesses.”
Tags: Benchmark, Bond market, Bracing, Copper, Fed, Households, Inflation, Investors, Lending rate, Oil, Pinch, Prices, Raise, Rising, Roiling, Uncertainty
Barron’s (May 27)
“Stocks are near their all-time highs.” Moreover, “investors are nervous about the numerous risks that could hit stocks and the economy. High oil prices and persistent inflation fears. The possibility that this will push the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. Worries about artificial-intelligence disrupting software and other sectors.” Nevertheless, Goldman Sachs believes equities “are still good investments” because “rapidly rising earnings could keep pushing up stock prices” and, rather than dumping equities, investors can manage risk in other ways.
Tags: AI, All-time highs, Earnings, Economy, Equities, Fears, Fed, Goldman Sachs, Inflation, Interest rates, Investors, Nervous, Numerous, Oil prices, Stock prices, Stocks
The Times (May 27)
“Corporate leaders who think decades ahead in business become incredibly short-sighted in advocacy, financing ideas that become roadblocks to innovation and growth.” Big Tech is currently finding out about the phenomena that Milton Friedman dubbed “the suicidal impulse of the business community.” For years, Big Tech “helped fund climate activism,” but they now face “backlash as AI data centres drive demand for energy and infrastructure growth.”
Tags: AI, All-time highs, Earnings, Economy, Equities, Fears, Fed, Goldman Sachs, Inflation, Interest rates, Investors, Nervous, Numerous, Oil prices, Risk, Stock prices, Stocks
Financial Times (May 1)
“The European Central Bank and the Bank of England have warned they may need to raise interest rates in the coming months, as central banks grapple with the energy shock triggered by the war in the Middle East. The two central banks on Thursday followed the Federal Reserve in holding interest rates at their current levels, but both indicated future rate rises could be necessary if soaring energy costs spill over into persistently high inflation.”
Tags: BOE, Central banks, Costs, ECB, Energy shock, Fed, Grapple, Interest rates, Middle East, War, Warned
Bloomberg (April 10)
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell summoned Wall Street leaders to an urgent meeting on Anthropic.” The AI firm’s new Mythos system is thought to be “capable of identifying and then exploiting vulnerabilities in every major operating system and web browser.” The leaders, who represented global systemically important banks, were summoned “to make sure banks are aware of possible future risks… and are taking precautions to defend their systems.”
Tags: AI, Anthropic, Bessent, Exploiting, Fed, Future risks, GSIB, Identifying, Meeting, Mythos, Operating system, Powell, Treasury, Urgent, Vulnerabilities, Wall Street, Web browser
Barron’s (March 12)
“Wall Street is becoming increasingly worried” with the escalating war in Iran. Investors fear the war “could lead to a stagflationary environment where the Federal Reserve can’t step in to boost the economy due to stubborn price growth. Odds of no rate cut in 2026 surged to 46.1% on Thursday.” The odds had stood at just 5.1% a month ago.
Tags: 2026, 46.1%, Economy, Escalating, Fear, Fed, Investors, Iran, Odds, Price growth, Rate cut, Stagflationary, Wall Street, War, Worried
