Facts.
The Fed has raised 8 times since Trump was elected after a single .25 raise in December 2015, the only increase during the previous Administration and the first increase in 10 years. That’s 6 years after the recession ended.
The Discount Rate has tripled from 1 to 3.
The Fed is selling $50 Billion a month in debt to lighten its balance sheet after buying 4.5 trillion in QT in an attempt to ease after the 2009 Recession.
Many don’t like it for some perverse reason, but Trump has done exceptionally well growing the economy while presiding over exceptionally strong markets despite significantly tighter monetary policy. Give the man his due.
..there will be a day of reckoning- the Fed’s now playing with fire - capitulating to the growing chorus of stock market supporters to lower rates - to keep the ‘economy growing’.
It’s nonsense. Low rates no longer are benefiting anyone except those with debt. Since rates have been low, debt has exploded - everywhere - the borrowing by Americans, by corporations, and by city, state and federal governments has been insatiable. We’re on a path to ruin and financial collapse. Approximately half of all Americans aren’t even invested in the market - those Americans - mostly lower income, have been left behind. Retirees, the elderly and savers who depended on interest rates for income have lost trillions for over a decade. US debt, deficit and unfunded liabilities are at record levels. New York City and New York State debt, deficit and unfunded liabilities are also at record levels - with an economy and market that seems stronger than ever. There’s no fiscal discipline and no oversight on the spending - it’s completely uncontrolled. The interest alone on US debt will be approximately $389 billion this year - taxpayers haven’t got a clue and politicians will never discuss it. Enjoy the market’s rally while you can - someday, there will be a day of reckoning.
@JMS
The country doesn’t function exclusively for those left behind at the expense of the broad Middle Class.
Democrats can’t seem to understand that.
Going back to the good old days before the crash of 2008.
Ahhhhh memories.
A time when the government looked the other way while greedy, unethical, morally bankrupt people manipulated the markets.
5
I have felt since the 90s that I was being pressed to participate in the games of the wealthy in the stock market where it is rigged for them to win. I as employee investor remained static no matter which product I chose while the 'killing was made by those who need it least.
I hate that I'm kinda, sorta, hoping for a downturn ... a sizable 'correction' perhaps.
Something to readjust the scales a bit ... because right now, it's very tilted to very few benefiting in outsize ways.
There is a lot of comments about how this decision is proof of a tilted system that favors the rich, but most of these ills are unrelated to the Fed. The Fed has a very limited arsenal and very limited mandate. It’s been carrying out its duty in an impartial data driven manner for decades. In this case they are controlling the interest rates in order to preempt an economic disaster like the Great Recession. As far as our other economic ills we need to look elsewhere. The Fed is neither the problem nor the solution. We should recognize the Fed for what it is, a stabilizer for our economy.
4
@NKM
While I am not a fan of blaming everything for income and wealth inequality, the Fed has a major role in the problems. Whatever their so-called mandate may say the Fed acts as a handmaid to the banks which own the Fed (it is an non government organization capitalized and owned by national banks.)
They have interfered in good government by enabling reckless fiscal policies. The disinvestment in public infrastructure, the wrong-headed tax cuts, the idiotic and wasteful wars have been enabled by the Fed to serve a Globalist utopia which is going to fail due to its own "success".
Economics purists please live in the real world. It is an ecosystem, if you skew it towards the predators, eventually it will lead to their failure. You can juice to win a few events, but as a long-term policy, it will destroy you. Real world, not funny money Ben Bernanke world.
1
Better make sure stop loss orders are updated.
1
In response to the inevitable (and knee-jerk) response from Liberals--that this economy only benefits the wealthy: my 401K has increased in value $325,000 since Trump has been president. It's safe to say, had Hillary and her anti-business agenda been elected, none of this would have happened.
--Just a middle-class guy
--Not a member of the 1%
2
@Jesse The Conservative
If your 401k increased in value 325k in less than 4 years, it's safe to say you had a lot of money in your 401k to begin with and qualify as wealthy.
11
@Jesse The Conservative that's a very fair point that our workplace retirement accounts have benefited. Trump inherited a good economy; there is no basis to assert that a Clinton administration would not have been capable of doing the same, without tariffs resulting in millions of tax dollars to subsidize those who were hurt by the tariffs. And, you thoroughly mis-characterize Hillary, she LOVES big business, just remember if you will those million dollar 'speeches' she gave to corporate elites.
3
I guess you have a crystal ball.
My reaction is mixed. Of course, I've made some money in the stock market this year, but I don't trust these frequent highs. I suspect a bubble. I suspect a correction or worse in the near future. I'd be delighted to be wrong.
5
Maybe we should just be grateful at good news rather than automatically always trying to assign partisan credit or blame, thus constant rivalry is getting so tiresome.
4
Just remember where we were in 2009, when the S&P was at 676.53, after the dust steeled from the crash of 2008. That was its low point and since then it has climbed 2300 points.
We have also seen, since Trump took office, market swings as much as 20%. Unlike the Obama Administration, the markets have been volatile under Trump, especially since January 2018, when he started his trade wars.
A companion article, on the main NYT web pages, has a story about the Fed Chairman's speech yesterday. Because of Trump's trade policy, and despite questionable good numbers about unemployment, the state of the world economy is much more dire. Some countries are already in a recessions, with more joining them.
The markets today, are gaining back what they lost Friday over the jobs report. The Fed may lower interest rates, this month, is the reason. Not because the economy is doing great; it this otherwise.
Let's face reality here, since the so called "dot.com" bust, the US economy has been driven by tax cuts, stimulus, and amassing wealth in the hands of the few. Helped along by deregulation. The "dot.com" bust was the first blow., 9/11 the second, the Great Recession, the third, and Trump trade policies will be the fourth. Each time 99% of Americans feel the pain, and the 1% gets the gains.
A recent Banknote Survey poll indicates since 2007, indicates 48% of Americans saw no improvement in financial situation and 25% are worse off.
17
@Nick Metrowsky
How can the Feds cut rates when they're at 0%?
2
@Coffee Bean
From bankrate.com:
Fed Funds Rate
Prime rate, federal funds rate, COFI Updated: 07/09/2019 This week Month ago Year ago
Fed Funds Rate (Current target rate 2.25-2.50) 2.50 2.50 2.00
3
@Nick Metrowsky
How many Qs did the Feds keep the interest rates at 0% under the previous Admin?
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-02/despite-zero-percent-interest-rates-obamas-economy-ranks-worst-post-ww2
2
Yeah, I hear about this economy. I hear what people want you to hear.
But if you think this 'economy' is doing so well right now.
Just wait until 20+ million people lose their health care. It's going to be absolutely fabulous after that. Right? Ugggh.
11
Reading the anti-Trump comments tells me how blind rage fills these messages. There's nothing in the article about Trump, and it's a positive story for America, but nope, can't allow that to be the case, can we?
Old Russian proverb - two poor farmers (one with a goat, one with no goat). The one without the goat finds a genie lamp. Any wish will be granted.
And he wishes his neighbors' goat dies.
Just so that we can all be miserable the same.
7
@John
Some fail to remember there must be those who can afford to buy the seeds from the company in order to hire people to plant and harvest for market. (Capitalism)
2
If you invite coyotes into my goat field and claim they benefit me, expect to hear complaints. Rightly so.
4
@Mathias
You're correct! Terrible analogy on my part.
It's not the fall that kills you. But the sudden stop.
2
There is no reason for the Fed to cut rates . They should cut when the economy slows. We are at records , have low unemployment. The Fed is so out of touch. If they lower they caved into Trump. Watch the Fed raise when the Democrats win in 2020. Only a moron would cut rates right now.
8
Wait until the rate cuts (in the "greatest economy of all-time", why are rate CUTS even needed?) juice this latest asset bubble to new highs all over. Housing prices will be out of reach for even more people. Bravo. Well done! How about we worry about the real economy and not constantly appeasing the mythical Mr. Market?
24
@Mannley
So agree. Housing prices in our area are back to -- no, they've surpassed '05-'08 insane levels.
Multiple offers, bidding wars, same-day sales on places that, pre-bubble, went for 1/2 of what is asking now.
And, after crash, lost the nutty 50% bubble mark-up + another 20%.
So what will be it down the line? I wish we all knew and could plan / be prepared accordingly.
End the trade war rather than cut interest rates. The trade war is causing real structural economic damage and an interest rate cut will only allow the toxic Trump policy to continue to worsen the global economy. Bad Trump economic policy should not force the Fed to follow with a bad interest rate cut that will result in a short-term stock market sugar high without addressing the real problem. Jerome Powell's job is to protect the economy not Donald Trump.
33
This is wonderful news. Oh, wait... I don't own stock.
4
Thank you president obama setting us on this path
9
It’s called a grab and go.
3
Hate to say this but if these were Obama numbers, you’d all be jumping for joy, and GOP would sound like the complainers here. Hypocrites on both sides.
3
@Becky, this never would have happened under Obama. The market rallies when businesses gain confidence and when earnings increase. Tax cuts and regulatory reform spurred these market gains.
Obama, Hillary and Elizabeth Warren all took turns uttering "You didn't build that". Now you know why it didn't happen under Obama--why it never would have happened under Hillary--and why we should pray Warren's bid fails.
1
@Jesse The Conservative. More than that did happen under Obama. The Stock Market went from 6,000 to just a hair under 20,000 during Obama’s eight years despite Republican obstruction. That’s a 233% increase, whereas it has barely managed 30% in two and a half years under Trump. Do facts just not agree with you? And typical dishonesty (or is it just ignorance) to pull out the four words out of dozens that Obama actually said that were herry-picked by Fox Fake News to make it appear Obama said something completely different from what he actually said. Look up the full quote and then apologize.
3
Yes but what does this have to do with whatever Trump Organization profitable advantage is being hidden from the American people in Donald Trump's income tax returns and business accounting financial records arising from his occupation of the Oval Office of the White House?
By failing to disclose and divest his assets into a blind trust you can't tell where Trump Mar-a-Lago ends and Trump White House begins.
6
@Blackmamba
Grasping strawman argument needle by needle.
2
So the market above 3,000, President Trump wins emolument lawsuit, and the British Ambassador moving on--bad morning for the Democrats who have done nothing for the past two years except whine.
2
@Jonathan. The 3,000 number was a spike, Trump won no lawsuit, a judge just declared Mayland didn’t have standing, and the British ambassador just said what every diplomat who has met Trump thinks. So, you don’t understand the market, the law, or diplomacy any better than Trump.
3
It's funny reading all these articles about the market rallying on.
If you're an actual investor reading reports from financial advisors, the picture is grim. All of the pressure by the Trump administration on the Fed to juice the economy so they can get headlines like these mask the underlying weakness for the country, in particular the middle class.
Corporate investment has been stagnant for years. Companies are stashing profits into tax shelters. Job growth has been primarily in warehousing and trucking for online retailer giants like Amazon. There is not return of manufacturing or off shored skilled labor. More importantly healthcare costs are skyrocketing, out pacing cost of living, with no connection to reality, it's pure profiteering. 401k's have been doing well, but they've been performing well since the Obama administration saved our economy. My 401k has been performing well for decades.
Meanwhile, financial advisors are prepping clients to get ready when the fairy dust blows away and the grown ups have to deal with the $24 trillion deficit that Trump and the Republicans will leave behind in 2020.
48
@Don Obama doubled the deficit while he was in office, and no, he did not boost the economy with his "shovel ready jobs" because there weren't any. This the low unemployment rate, record employment rate amongst minorities, we are headed in a much better direction than ever before. Under Obama over 300K manufacturing jobs were lost. In Trumps first 26 months, there were 479K manufacturing jobs created. Your statement is false.
7
Yes, under Obama there was a large increase in debt, but it was to plug the holes in all the debt that was destroyed in the GFC. Without that we would have cruised right into a depression. We now issue debt to fund tax cuts, most of which accrue to folks who didn’t need them.
11
@Tamar Apparently you are living with alternate reality. Sad!
7
Building an economy based on debt. What could go wrong? What happens when the global economy slows, the job market softens, and people can't pay their debts any more? More assets will wind up in the hands of fewer people again. The wealth consolidation of the new American aristocracy goes on.
72
Explain that to the republican working poor.
34
@Allison
Building? Built! Go to the St. Louis Fed website and pull the aggregate public and private debt series. We have been issuing debt here at a CAGR of about 8% since the early 50s, probably longer as that's when the data starts. Which is roughly equal to nominal equity returns.
1
@Abe Froman
Can you say that in English, please?
3
I wonder if the 'independent Fed' that Chairman Powell proclaimed is more influenced by a fear of receiving an unfavorable Tweet from the Twitter in Chief than by economic necessity. After all, the 'Tariff Man' who is a constant disrupter, the King of Debt, is such a financial expert that he's had multiple bankruptcies.
Cutting interest rates now appears to be purely an appeasement to Trump and his chaotic way of dealing with other nations by way of threats and tariffs. And as others have noted, this also pleases the very rich very much.
5
Congratulations Mr President, the economy is doing great.
Democrats should be working overtime to make sure the economic prosperity doesn’t continue until the election. Otherwise Trump will get a lot of credit for putting Americans to work.
A Record Expansion’s Surprise Winners: The Low-Skilled
As unemployment remains near generation lows, the fortunes of low-wage workers have improved markedly WSJ
1
@R. R. Largely becausemof mandated increases in the minimum wage that Republicans fought against, i.e. due to Democratic policies.
1
Mant experts say that the reason the 2008 downturn was so devastating is because Alan Greenspan kept interest rates too low for too long.
I wonder what horrible crisis Jay Powell's policy is going to cause in the next few years.
8
"many see reasons for the gains to continue" ... because the superrich have no other investment vehicle for their cash, and because the stock market is a casino that favors bettors the more bettors there are who want to play. so c'mon, rich folks, let's play!
4
Rather than removing the punch bowl... Jerome Powell is considering adding more booze to it. Look at the stock market boom of the last decade... "funny" how it looks a lot like the rise in the national debt (without the downturn we saw last December). We are in the wee hours of the party. The Fed is eking out what fun they can for the 1%. They have lost their independence and way.
10
A major -- perhaps the largest -- factor in the rise of the stock market is low interest rates. Even if you aren't in the market, you may be benefiting through historically low borrowing costs that make mortgages, cars and student loans all less expensive than they would otherwise be.
2
And the poor get poorer and the rich get richer
The stock market has nothing to do with how well most of us are doing.
We are not doing well.
26
The market needs to level out for a two months here. We need to see a real deal with China . . . long term solid trade relations, a commitment from China to be less repressive, less Tyrannical and a comittment from the U.S. to be less militaristic and finally we need a three way ban on hyper-sonic missiles and space launched nuclear weapons.
To make a great deal with China, the U.S.A. must protect the people of Hong Kong, who believe in true freedom, rule of law, the principle of truth and empathy and kindness, independent fo religion, that form the foundation of the higher order of being to which we are each called.
So, where does it begin?
3
What a great time to be a productive person and to be in the stock market. Thank you President Trump (and President Obama also).
3
How did everybody forget?? Yes, the S&P is up 19% in 2019 ... it also fell by 20% in the last 3 months of 2018. We were close to 3,000 in September of last year
7
@Eugene
OK - how about 24 months then?
Up 22%
Five years - up 51.3%
Indeed - how do we all "forget" that an investment in America still pays dividends year in and year out
4
The market has quadrupled since 2009, it's right there in the article.
There always will be ups and downs in the market, but the farther you pull back the easier it is to see the trend line is up.
1
And it's back up to 3000, so what's your point?
Is it that the market reached near 3k, corrected, and now is up again at 3K?
You imply that this is bad news somehow
1
Reading these comments only reinforces my belief that most people have no idea how the stock market or economy work. One major reason we do investor/investment education for new people joining my company. Kids coming out of college (and I'd venture even those who are older) couldn't tell you the difference between a Bond or Equity fund, have no idea about allocation and investment diversity. Basically no idea about how to make their money work for them.... and this is true even when the company makes an outright contribution in their name without requiring any matching by the employee.
Instead good news by the stock market instantly becomes class warfare. Well I was born to parents at the bottom rung of the Free Enterprise ladder. It is possible to go up. That's the beauty of our economic system. We have the potential of economic mobility that's not offered by most countries.
13
@Ben R Ben, I think most people here aren't upset that the market is going up. They're upset that in this economy Powell is considering an interest rate cut, which will impact us down the road. More importantly, most people understand we are crushing ourselves under a massive debt load, and if the Fed's current or anticipated moves makes it less likely they can maneuver the economy positively over what is surely to come, everyone will pay ~ and those who can least afford it, will be hurt the most.
13
Pls tell that to coal miners in WVa
1
@Diana
I am delighted that you believe our fellow life-travellers have any idea what a rate cut means and what are the potential consequences.
However, I am more in line with Ben - they detest the Trumpster so very much that they view good economic performance as a slap in the face.
1
I’m a lifelong Democrat. My 401k is up almost 21% since January 1st. To the liberals who elected Trump: he’s going to win again, by a country mile. And in part because of people like me, centrists who are doing very well under this administration. I wouldn’t vote for Bernie Sanders on a dare at this point. I remember all the liberals on November 8, 2016, saying what an opportunity this was (no, seriously!). That Trump was going to fail and this would pave the way for a liberal takeover. Well how did that work out?
Stop complaining, you created this.
P.S. My vote in the NYS Democratic primary will go to Biden. If he’s not the nominee, I in all likelihood won’t vote in the general. I will never vote for Trump, nor will I vote for St. Bernard or any of the other lefties that will raise my taxes and destroy the economy.
4
@Mike Interesting that you didn't mention the tax increase that most residents of NY, NJ, CA, IL, and MD all got from Trump and the Republican Cpngress. Reducing the SALT deduction has had a devastating effect on many of us. You escaped that somehow?
27
@Mike
We had a 20% drop in the S&P 500 in the last 3 months of 2018. Being up 21% since January 2019 means absolutely nothing.
21
@Laurie Interesting. I got hit hard by the SALT deduction limitation BUT I thought those of us making more are supposed to be paying our fair share? So shouldn't the increase in taxes be a good thing? (I say this with extreme sarcasm but that's what all my liberal friends said until they had to pay more)
5
Things are going great in my family too. Our son just turned eighteen so now we can apply for five more credit cards. With the fourteen credit cards (spread out over four people) we've already maxed out, our eighteen year old's contribution will allow us to visit Europe and Alaska later this year. The extra money means that we can pay off some of the other credit card debt so we're safe there and our seventeen year old will be eligible for the same benefits next year so it's blue skies for the foreseeable future. What could go wrong?
12
@Rick Gage Hurrah! Just follow the king of debt, the little trump, your life will be great again -- make America Great again!
1
@Rick Gage :) I'm afraid there are those who won't understand your wit.
2
@Rick Gage Love it!
2
On stock market :
From the NY Times 5/25/2005:
"Running out of Bubbles"
“In July 2001, Paul McCulley, an economist at Pimco, the giant bond fund, predicted that the Federal Reserve would simply replace one bubble with another. "There is room," he wrote, "for the Fed to create a bubble in housing prices”
(And so did the Fed, to counter the collapse of the dot.com bubble)
"Now the question is what can replace the housing bubble.”
"But although the housing boom has lasted longer than anyone could have imagined, the economy would still be in big trouble if it came to an end. “
"So what happens if the housing bubble bursts? It will be the same thing all over again, unless the Fed can find something to take its place. And it's hard to imagine what that might be. “
Paul Krugman, NY Times
Mr Krugman underestimated the inventiveness of the Fed. Using QE and ZIRP it blew the biggest stock market bubble in US history to fight the collapse of the housing bubble
It too, will come to a bad end.
10
So the rich get richer and...
6
@MP Flinn
Over half of tax-paying americans have a stake in the Stock Market in some fashion.
1
@MP Flinn The intelligent, rational, hard working, productive, and efficient people get richer, yes.
1
@MP Flinn Yes, we get richer and so do my charities. Doctors Without Borders for example. We stockholders are not all mindless greedy people interested in only ourselves. We care and give generously to charities both world wide and locally.
Is this something positive for Trump? I can never tell.
4
@John L. Barton
It will most certainly be spun as very positive for Trump.
3
The greatest dangers to people hoping to set aside some money for their futures -- here as well as in Venezuela -- are public debt and inflation.
Allowed to do want he wants to do, Trump will print and spend enough money to make Venezuela look like a responsible country.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-economy/venezuela-inflation-falls-below-1-million-percent-in-may-for-first-time-since-2018-congress-idUSKCN1TB2GP
https://mashable.com/2016/07/27/german-hyperinflation/#HKo6ZIB1Tsqy
5
this is nothing more than a giant Ponzi scheme and they never end well, but for some
13
@Comrade Vlad
You may not be aware that this particular American 'Ponzi' scheme has been running successfully since 1792 and for 227 years now?
Of course we always bail them out when it fails.
10% of Americans own 90% of the market.
1% own 38%.
Please don't let this market record influence your vote.
27
Do you have data to support this?
If you have any kind of employer or union or government pension, you have an interest in the stock market.
7
@sing75
Well no - the two biggest domestic holders are pensions and mutual funds.
2
It jumped . . . and fairly quickly retreated.
Despite all the hype, everyone is getting out of stocks. The crash is coming once the Jolt Cola of the tax cut and buybacks wears off.
17
@Mtnman1963
You join a long list of people who have been saying that for five years now
The ride always goes on longer than we think it should. I was watching in 2005 and it carried on. As long as there is a bigger sucker it will continue.
We know it’s near the end when the middle class is trying to sell to the extreme poor on credit and dump before it burns.
@SteveRR People haven't been saying this for 5 years, and the circumstances are very different than in the past 5 years. Why is the NYT allowing you to fly this kite?
“Global growth is the issue here,” said Mr. Wren of Wells Fargo. “More trade negativity, that’s a headwind for the global story.”
So we hinder trade through protectionism and yet now we are supported to save the global economy by rate cuts into a super heated US economy from credit fuel?
How is that money going to help the global economy if we still have the trade walls up and cause more chaos?
1
I hope powell cut to 0 % and trump going all in with China trade war. 25% heck on every nation's imported goods if that country put tariff on our imports
2
@John
Might as well just cut everyone’s taxes to zero while your at it.
A bubble nearing the FOMO stage. Caveat emptor.
12
This reminds me of what happens just before the bottom falls out!
20
The stock market means nothing to the average American. It hardly even means anything in relation to how well a company is doing, it's merely how well people *think* it is going to do in the future.
This is not a sign of economic stability, the stock market ratcheting around, up and down and up and down. It really should be torn down.
7
@Kyle it sync with the master in chief and BTW that is how market is used to be tremors with Obama tenure but now with trump it is 9.0 earthquake every month. He is the center of attention if for a moment there is no news about him. He will stir up something like an angry child seeking attention fr parent( the mass)
2
I grow tired of struggling with all my might to make ends meet while reading daily about the latest successes of the Investors‘ Club.
30
If the stock market is doing so well, then why do we need an interest rate cut?
19
The stock market and the economy are not the same.
8
Very true. The reason to cut interest rates is to stimulate growth. A key mechanism of doing so is to incentivize people to move money from savings into the stock market which is supposed to stimulate the economy. Cutting rates can stimulate real estate transactions. However, housing is already unaffordable at current prices, never mind at inflated prices . The unemployment rate is at record lows. If this metric indicates a strong economy, why add fuel to the fire?
6
@Yvo van der Hoek
So the economy is in good shape of bad? Republicans say it is good. Democrats are concerned.
I see interest rates potentially going down blowing a bubble larger so the party goes on a bit longer.
Which is it?
4
Way to go rich people. It's good to know that rich people can leverage their money on the backs of salaried workers.
33
The richest 10% of households controlled 84% of the stock market's value.
The top 20% own 93% of the stock market's value.
The bottom 80% of Americans own less than 7% of the stock market's value.
Happy Days are here again for American's wealthiest Americans !
https://www.nber.org/papers/w24085
The Grand One Percent is working hard at modern feudalism.
Struggling billionaires deserve our sympathy and welfare.
Trump-GOP-Reverse Robin Hoods For a Brighter Tomorrow !
Remember in 2020
71
@Socrates Please quit demonizing the 1%. A household income of $470K puts you in the 1%. While this number is high, many are High Earners, Not Rich Yet (HENRY's).
We earn a decent salary, but our largest expense is taxes (100K per year). And we still have $200K in student loans.
Income and wealth are correlated, but earning a high salary doesn't put you in some elite club. Many NYT readers are in the 1%.
5
@Socrates Well then maybe the bottom 80% should get in the market! I did and I’m loving it.
7
@James The 1% is more of a phrase. What he is referring to is the top .01%. Too many jets, yachts and homes to use.
4
I haven't had a raise in over three years, but, uh, cool, I guess.
52
@Dominic I lost my savings in 2008 and haven't recouped.
9
@Dominic Between my medical bills due to chronic illness and student loan debt I'll be dead before I'm out of debt.
3
@Christine R
your email kind of sounds like it might be a clever joke...it's not...it is sadly true for thousands of Americans...me too!
1
Biggest theft in the history of thievery.
30
The stock market in this country is so rigged. A silly little comment about interest rates made by some spokesperson whose job it is to make sure the stock market does well and Waaaalaaaaaa….the stock market hits a new high!!!! Is there an election coming up sometime soon? Laughable!!!
39
Does that mean housing and healthcare are going to get more affordable? No? Then why would I care?
59
@Randall
In fact you are about to find out that things will even get more unaffordable. Thanks to the fed and trump
10
Some got to win some got to lose. When equity markets adjust or we go into a depression its the 98% who will lose. The central banks can only go so far in fueling the engines of growth and prosperity. When the central banks run out of rate cuts where will the market go? I suggest a global depression is in the foreseeable future. Retired American's are about to find out what happens when your IRAs, 401 k and yes annuities no longer have value. We can not cut our way out off a depression we only delay.
13
@ek perroFed is losing credibility for independence result of irresponsible attacks on Chairman Powell by “stable Genious” Trump. With his businesses under a mountain of debt, he doesn’t have any personal stake in lower rates, does he???!!
@ek perroFed is
Stock market: Woo, we're on the brink of a recession, great news! The DOW and S&P go up upon hearing this news.
Rest of America: What sort a Bizarro World are we living in?
48
As long as money in the bank has no value, the stock market is the only game in town. Even Warren Buffett said as much. When it ends, god only knows.
19
I find this alarming! Typical Republicans talking out of both sides of their mouth; claiming this is a historically good economy they built, but still needing to be propped up by historically low interest rates ... and they're getting away with it from the majority of voters and so called economic experts on the Fed board!
42
@JustinYes, and the major factor leading to any weakness is caused by Trump’s “trade war.” Still not widely recognized that we are paying a big price, and it is hurting trade volume in both directions. Reckless!!
1
Ok. The economy is teetering, so let's give the financial sector a break to keep their profits obscenely high. It sure is capitalism. But it sure ain't democracy.
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@Mikeyz Actually, it's not capitalism. The government is not supposed to "do" anything; free market forces are supposed to prevail. Imposing unnecessary tariffs to artificially influence market forces is not capitalism, and it's not even socialism. Ultimately, it's just stupid. Also, if you have to prop up market forces by monkeying with interest rates, it's not capitalism. The only true capitalistic enterprises are criminal ones.
And the anti-capitalist tariffs are shooting the "good" economy in the foot.
It's truly fascinating. Obama pulled the country out of the Great Recession and, without tweaking and twerking the economy, created a climate for it to do its thing naturally. Which gave Trump a pretty good economy to work with. Then Trump promptly takes credit for that economy, reaping the benefits of its trajectory - the same as it was under Obama, basically - but proceeds to implement policies that sabotage even the slight bump the tax cut bill briefly generated.
Unrestrained capitalism combined with socialistic policies favoring corporations and the wealthy are creating a huge wealth disparity that just keeps getting bigger and bigger. The definition of socialism does not say "government action favoring the poor and middle class is socialism, such action favoring the wealthy is not". (Actually, other than the government controlling businesses, the definition says nothing about government action per se, but that's another discussion.)
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@Barry Williams
This happens in all capitalist systems. It always favors the capital. It favors the owners of stuff, not the workers.
No matter how pure the market without intervention. No matter if the banks ran on gold. It always favors capital.
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@Mathias "It always favors the capital."
What is "it"? In a capitalist system, "it" is the market of businesses; the government is supposed to be as hands off as possible. The more government intrudes on market forces, the less the system is capitalist. Socialism is the system where the government is supposed to be hands on.
That being said, what is "favors"? Artificially skewing market forces can end up disfavoring greater capital by killing off potentially more prosperous businesses. Case in point: there is more wealth potential now in non-fossil-fuel technologies and industry than in propping up coal and oil. Market forces have been killing coal, and oil has been artificially manipulated forever.
And finally, "favoring capital" does not require business owners to hoard wealth while workers eat cake. How does having more personal wealth than you could possibly spend in 10 lifetimes favor capital? Favoring capital should require pumping most of that wealth back into businesses, and owners could still live like kings.
That's why there are no very successful pure capitalist societies. The richest on Earth, the US, is not pure, and it wouldn't be so rich if it was - it would have succumbed long ago to social strife and revolt. The workers always far outnumber the elite, and if you screw them bad enough for long enough, they eventually revolt - which is inevitable unless you rein in pure capitalism. Humans can't implement pure capitalism without greed screwing things up.
Once again socialism for the rich provided this time by the Federal Reserve, capitalism for the poor. The stock market is doing great because the Federal Reserve is pumping money into it.
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Should call arms to demonstrate outside federal reserve building for destroy the usd value?
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@steve
Yes. We the taxpayers bailed out Wall Street and the BIG BANKS. We the taxpayers got higher taxes so Trump could give his millionaire and billionaire friends tax breaks so they could play the stock market and make lots more money. We the taxpayers gave big corporations tax cuts so they could buy back their own stock and continue to take away our health benefits and freeze our paychecks. We the taxpayers pay for a big wall and a border problem so Trump can give all his friends and former employees big government contracts to build prisons and detention centers. Aren't we as a people feeling really happy now - after all the rich are richer - doesn't that make us happy?
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