Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Fed Does Not Hike Rates, As Expected; Markets Dull

Not only has the Fed run out of inflation-and-recession-fighting tools and rhetoric, but the US central bank seems to be running out of mental acuity and moral purpose.

What they do possess is an abundance of political correctness and political policy, used to keep watchers of global economies on their toes and the general populace in a trance.

The FOMC did today what they have done for most of the past seven years: they kept the federal funds rate unchanged. Since December, 2008 the federal funds rate has remained at 0.00-0.25%, until a one-time hike in December of 2015, raised the rate to 0.25-0.50, where it remains.

Citing a troubling employment picture after May's non-farm payroll figures came in at just 38,000 jobs, the Fed decided to delay their threatened rate hike for the foreseeable future, or, at least until the next meeting, in July, at which time they will likely find another reason to keep rates at ridiculously low levels to enrich those at the top of the money tree while at the same time impoverishing and punishing savers.

The policies of the Federal Reserve and their fellow central bankers in other countries are pointless and harmful. Since the financial collapse of 2008-09, their mangled ideologies have done little to stimulate any economy of any country. What's worse, these policies have afforded spendthrift governments the world over to borrow trillions at absurdly low rates, enslaving their populations to onerous taxation, promises of pension which will eventually collapse, and a general overburden of rules, regulations, fees, and legislation.

At the same time, civil liberties are dying at a pace close to that of a once-promising middle class, thanks to the moral turpitude of the central banker cabal and the lap-dog behavior of national governments.

While Wall Street has variously loved and desired low interest rates for a long time, this era has seemingly run its course, as today's market reaction shows. No longer is Wall Street enamored of rates close to zero; banks can't make much money on any spread, and debt over-saturation is a risk which few, if any, honest bankers wish to address.

The Fed (in)action and the slumbering reaction are signs that the age of ZIRP is at an end, and the sooner it ends, the better, but nobody is holding his or her breath waiting for central bankers to admit their mistakes and return to more normal, productive interest rates.

The Rise and Fall of Everything in One Day:
S&P 500: 2,071.50, -3.82 (0.18%)
Dow: 17,640.17, -34.65 (0.20%)
NASDAQ: 4,834.93, -8.62 (0.18%)

Chart for ^IXIC
Crude Oil 47.50 -2.06% Gold 1,295.80 +0.58% EUR/USD 1.1265 +0.04% 10-Yr Bond 1.60 -0.93% Corn 430.75 -1.32% Copper 2.09 0.00% Silver 17.56 +0.30% Natural Gas 2.87 -0.97% Russell 2000 1,149.30 +0.13% VIX 20.14 -1.76% BATS 1000 20,677.17 0.00% GBP/USD 1.4196 0.00% USD/JPY 105.8460 -0.14%

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