Weekly Market Snapshot from Frazier Allen for the week of July 30th, 2013
July 30, 2013
Market Commentary by Scott J. Brown, Ph.D., Chief Economist
The economic data reports were mixed. Existing home sales fell slightly in July. New home sales jumped 8.3% (although figures for the two previous months were revised lower and the July increase was not statistically different from zero). A measure of manufacturing activity in China weakened in July, but the same measure for the euro area was about flat.
Next week, no changes are expected from the Federal Open Market Committee, but investors will be sensitive to any changes in the wording of the policy statement. Future Fed policy decisions will be driven by the economic data (or more precisely, the implications that the data will have for the economic outlook). [Read more]
Weekly Market Snapshot from Frazier Allen for the week of July 24th, 2013
July 24, 2013
Market Commentary by Scott J. Brown, Ph.D., Chief Economist
In his monetary policy testimony to Congress, Fed Chairman Bernanke said that “a highly accommodative monetary policy will remain appropriate for the foreseeable future.” He indicated that the Fed is using asset purchases “primarily to increase the near-term momentum of the economy, with the specific goal of achieving a substantial improvement in the outlook for the labor market.”
The Fed will rely on its forward guidance that short-term interest rates will continue to remain exceptionally low “to help maintain a high degree of monetary accommodation for an extended period after asset purchases end, even as the economic recovery strengthens and unemployment declines toward more normal levels.” [Read more]
Weekly Market Snapshot from Frazier Allen for the week of February 24th, 2013
February 24, 2013
Market Commentary by Scott J. Brown, Ph.D., Chief Economist
The FOMC minutes from the January 29th-30th policy meeting showed a greater level of discomfort regarding the Fed’s large-scale asset purchases. “Many participants,” suggesting a majority, “expressed some concerns about potential costs and risks arising from further asset purchases.”
Several participants “discussed the possible complications that additional purchases could cause for the eventual withdrawal of policy accommodation, a few mentioned the prospect of inflationary risks, and some noted that further asset purchases could foster market behavior that could undermine financial stability.” Several others “argued that the potential costs of reducing or ending asset purchases too soon were also significant, or that asset purchases should continue until a substantial improvement in the labor market outlook had occurred.” [Read more]
Weekly Market Snapshot from Frazier Allen for the week of February 10th, 2013
February 10, 2013
Market Commentary by Scott J. Brown, Ph.D., Chief Economist
Federal Reserve Governor Jeremy Stein fell short of declaring that credit markets are overheating, but suggested that an extended period of low interest rates could lead to the taking on of greater duration of credit risks, or to employment of greater leverage in a “reach for yield.” He said that the Fed must monitor the financial markets closely and could address signs of excessive risk-taking through regulatory efforts or through monetary policy.
Next week, President Barack Obama will deliver his State of the Union Address on Tuesday evening (which is also Mardi Gras). Most likely, the President will ask that Congress postpone the sequester through the end of the year. Note that it’s not costless to do so – there has to be an offsetting increase in revenues (possibly closed loopholes) or reduction in other types of spending (say, reduced farm subsidies). The reports on retail sales and industrial production have some market-moving potential, but seasonal adjustment could exaggerate what would otherwise be minor shifts in the data. [Read more]
APSU history professor Kristofer Ray to appear on Discovery Channel mini-series “How Booze Built America”
September 6, 2012
Clarksville, TN – In the early 1790s, about 13,000 federal soldiers marched into rural western Pennsylvania to put down a small uprising. The farmers in the area had turned violent, destroying each other’s property, attacking and kidnapping law enforcement officers and formulating plans for an assault on nearby Pittsburgh.
Then-President George Washington was not pleased, so he sent in the troops.
Mike Rowe, host of the Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs,” recently talked with APSU associate professor of history Dr. Kristofer Ray for an upcoming Discovery Channel program “How Booze Built America.”
Mayor joins effort to include jobs initiatives in debt limit agreement
July 30, 2011
Clarksville, TN – As the debate continues in Washington, D.C., over raising the nation’s debt limit, Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan recently join 49 other mayors from across the country to urge Congress and the President to include job creation initiatives in whatever agreement they reach.
Mayors from 50 cities, who gathered last week at the United States Conference of Mayors’ Summer Leadership meeting in Los Angeles, sent a letter to President Obama and the leadership of both the House and Senate that called on them “to consider the impact of your agreement on the overriding priority of job creation. [Read more]
