NZD Central Bank Maintains Rates: RBNZ holds rates at 5.50%, hints at possible hike due to high inflation. NZD spikes but retreats; rate cuts pushed back.
(Bloomberg) It’s going to take more than a pesky pipeline shutdown to knock energy stocks off their pedestal as this year’s best performing group in the S&P…
in a tornado of morning tweets, the commander in chief gave himself his own report card, in his view, achievements from every corner of the administration, stock market higher, jobs booming, security tighter, regulations slashed. on some of those issues, like the supreme court nominee, he certainly does get an a. on others you might say the president is grading himself on a curve. today at the 200-day mark, he signed over one major legislative item into law. a russia sanctions bill he never wanted to reach his desk in the first place, calling it seriously flawed. now it was just one week ago that the new white house chief of staff entered the west wing with a mission to inject some military discipline into a chaotic administration. the dysfunction permeating the white house had no doubt contributed to the president s poll numbers at historic lows, along with the nagging russia investigation. the president routinely
expected. prices are up 10%. martha: unbelievable. i saw that number this morning. up 10% is a huge jump. and there is evidence all around that the housing market is really starting to pop, right? yeah. martha: then the big question is the fed has been flooding money in because the whole economy has been so lousy, at what point do they start to pull in the reigns? hopefully no time soon. that s how the market feels about it. they say they ll wait until unemployment drops to 6.5%. we are certainly away from there. one of the other things that is making the market fly is comments out of japan and the european central bank saying they are going to keep things nice and easy for a longtime to come. that is what the market is counting on. they are inferring from that that the feds will continue to do the same for investors. the only place to make money right now is in the stock market. you can t make it in bonds or in your bank account, everyone knows that. that is all fueling the stock
this is one of the the reasons why when people say it s just the fed pushing the stock market higher, the fundamentals that are supporting the stock market are there. the companies balance sheets are so strong in large part because across the board we have seen companies able to refinance their debt, bring down their interest expense, deleverage. all of this in this environment, corporations have strengthened and remained probably the strongest sector of the u.s. economy. profits as a percent of gdp are near record high levels. they were record high levels in 11 and they haven t come off much. these are the reasons why the fed s actions are working and again, i think you re selling the market short to some extent if you say it s solely because of the buying the fed is doing. both of you, great to talk to you, as always. michelle is the managing director at the bank of