By PATRICK LAVERY As experts almost unanimously predicted, the Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday held its target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25% to 5.5%, meaning after a year and a half of upheaval, the range will approach the end of 2023 not having budged for more than a third of this year,…
By PATRICK LAVERY When the Federal Open Market Committee meets this week analysts will be looking for signs of what’s next and it may be anyone’s guess. At the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual convention and expo in Philadelphia this month, MBA Chief Economist Michael Fratantoni told attendees that they expect the Feds will maintain the…
By PATRICK LAVERY With the end of the third quarter of 2023 in sight, indications are that the Federal Reserve will pause hiking its federal funds rate this week – as it did in June before again raising the target range in July – and investors will be watching closely on Wednesday to see if…
By PATRICK LAVERY When last we heard from the Federal Reserve on interest rates, on June 14, the Federal Open Market Committee agreed not to raise the target range for the federal funds rate for the first time in more than a year. With the Fed’s next meeting now less than a week away, could…
By PATRICK LAVERY The Federal Open Market Committee called a pause on their rate hikes Wednesday, electing to keep the target range for the federal funds rate unchanged at 5% to 5.25% while continuing to significantly reduce securities holdings. It was not a complete victory lap for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who told reporters…
By PATRICK LAVERY Incremental but persistent increases in the Federal Open Market Committee’s policy interest rate have now officially entered a second year, with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announcing another quarter-percentage point hike on Wednesday. The target rate is now 5.25%, up five full points since April 2022. Powell reiterated in his prepared remarks…
By PATRICK LAVERY A new book providing insider insight into how millions of Americans were provided mortgage and rental assistance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been released. “Shelter from the Storm: How a COVID Mortgage Meltdown Was Averted” is by Cato Institute Senior Advisor Mark Calabria who was, at the outset of the…
By PATRICK LAVERY “Let’s go to the mall!” wasn’t just a catchphrase popularized by alter-ego Robin Sparkles on the sitcom “How I Met Your Mother.” In the 1980s and 1990s, shoppers flocked to malls to satisfy their needs for a variety of goods, and adolescents went there just to hang out, patronize the food court,…
By PATRICK LAVERY The result of this week’s two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting was not nothing, but neither was it as aggressive a decision as officials at the Federal Reserve might have liked to make. Once again, the target range for the federal funds rate was raised one-quarter of a percentage point, bringing them…
By PATRICK LAVERY Speculation about what actions leaders at the Federal Reserve will take at their meeting starting Tuesday has been building for weeks, and opinions over the right course of action are varied. Should they stay the course, steadily raising interest rates to try to continue to curb inflation? Should they be more aggressive?…
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