Fed Hikes by 25 Basis Points, to 5.0% at Top of Range, Pencils in One More Rate Hike, No Rate Cut in 2023, QT Continues: New Regime of Tightening while Providing Liquidity for Banks by Wolf Richter • Mar 22, 2023 • 178 Comments Stepping on the brake with one foot while putting an arm around the baby to keep her from hitting the dashboard.
THE WOLF STREET REPORT: Free Money Turned Brains to Mush. Now Some Banks Fail by Wolf Richter • Mar 19, 2023 • 207 Comments The Fed ended Free Money, and the only thing it broke is the consensual hallucination that spawned during the Free Money era. And look what we got.
Fed Loaned $160 Billion to Banks and $142 billion to FDIC. But QT-Related Roll-off Continued by Wolf Richter • Mar 16, 2023 • 281 Comments At around 4.75%, plus collateral, these are expensive loans for banks.
Silicon Valley Bank’s Uninsured Depositors Bailed Out. Crypto Signature Bank Shut Down, All Depositors Bailed Out. Senior Execs Fired. All Shareholders, Some Bondholders Bailed In by Wolf Richter • Mar 12, 2023 • 581 Comments Treasury/Fed/FDIC issue joint statement with Tough Love for investors in failed banks.
Fed’s Balance Sheet Drops by $626 Billion from Peak, Cumulative Operating Loss Grows to $38 billion: Update on QT by Wolf Richter • Mar 2, 2023 • 194 Comments Quantitative Tightening is starting to add up.
Least Geeky Explanation Ever of Differences Between CPI and PCE Price Index which the Fed Uses as Yardstick by Wolf Richter • Feb 27, 2023 • 55 Comments OK, “least geeky ever,” I mean I don’t know that, but you get the idea. Fed governor Jefferson outlines the differences in a lecture at Harvard.
Why the MBS Roll-off from Fed’s Balance Sheet Will Speed Up by Wolf Richter • Feb 8, 2023 • 146 Comments It was half the maximum pace. But rising home sales and, lo-and-behold, rising mortgage refis are about to change that.
Fed’s Balance Sheet Drops by $532 Billion from Peak, Cumulative Loss Reaches $27 billion: February Update on QT by Wolf Richter • Feb 2, 2023 • 140 Comments QT is starting to make a visible dent.
What Powell Actually Said by Wolf Richter • Feb 1, 2023 • 290 Comments “The historical record cautions strongly against prematurely loosening policy. We will stay the course until the job is done,” but it’s not done, Powell said: Core services inflation ex-housing has not come down.
Back-to-Back Market Smackdowns Coming from the Fed and ECB. Could Be a Hoot by Wolf Richter • Jan 28, 2023 • 258 Comments Surly frustrated central bankers telling euphoric markets that the inflation fight is far from over.
