#federal-reserve-policy

#federal-reserve-policy

These ETFs can complement your portfolio very well if you pair them up with popular lower-yield ETFs. Higher yields will become more important in the coming months as the Federal Reserve has shown more willingness to cut. The current Fed Chair Jerome Powell's term will end in May 2026. He's expected to be replaced with a Trump appointee. As such, the next Fed Chair is very likely to be even more dovish on interest rates.

The bitcoin price dropped sharply today after a brief pump near $90,000, sliding to $84,544 as the price sell-off continued into its second month. Bitcoin lost 2% over the past 24 hours. It remains 5% below its seven-day high of $89,220 and hovers near the week's low of $84,596. Trading volume reached $56 billion. Bitcoin's market capitalization stands at $1.69 trillion. The circulating supply is roughly 19.96 million BTC out of a total 21 million, according to Bitcoin Magazine Pro data.

So the housing market faces some really significant challenges, and I don't know that, you know, a 25 basis point decline in the federal funds rate is going to make much of a difference for people. You know, housing supply is low. Many people have very, very low, low, low rate mortgages from the pandemic period, and they kept refinancing and caught the really low. So it's expensive to them to move. And you know, we're a ways away from that changing.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% but remains only 0.7% below its all-time high, continuing a relatively calm run following weeks of sharp swings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 35 points, or 0.1%, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% lower. Dollar General rallied 8.8% after reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, as more customers shopped at its stores. It was also able to squeeze more profit out of each $1 in sales that it made.

With all the chatter and commentary about the internet (or dot-com) bubble burst and even the great stock market crash of 1929, it's quite an unsettling time to be an investor in the markets, as the S&P nears new highs after a 2.3% gain for the month of October. For the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, it was an even brighter month, with the index nearly rising 5% in a month.

Silver prices declined for a third consecutive session on Tuesday, as investor focus shifted to recent statements from Federal Reserve officials and signs of easing US-China trade tensions. Fed officials, including Mary Daly and Lisa Cook, emphasized a data-dependent stance ahead of the December meeting. While both expressed support for the latest 25 bps cut, they cautioned that further moves would depend on incoming economic indicators.

U.S. stocks signaled another rally on Sunday night after the Trump administration negotiated a framework for a trade deal with China that should avoid mutual assured destruction. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered rough outlines of an agreement that include China easing rare earth export restrictions and buying "significant" amounts of U.S. soybeans in exchange for President Donald Trump removing his threat of adding 100% tariffs on China.

At the end of the second quarter, the average U.S. bank paid depositors an annual interest rate of 2.2%, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation data. This is higher than the 0.2% rate two years ago but well below the Fed's 5.5% overnight rate. JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America reportedly paid 1.5% and 1.7% on average, respectively. Those lower payments to depositors generated roughly $1.1 trillion in additional revenue, about half of total bank income over the period, the Financial Times' calculations indicate.

Most economists believe the Fed will cut rates at its meeting next week after recent data revealed a labor market that's been softening for longer than previously thought. While inflation also remains stubbornly above the U.S. central banks 2% target and is forecast to have risen again in August, Fed officials have increasingly expressed concern about a slowing U.S. job market.

It's not like there's going to be a recession ... right?

Wall Street is holding steady Thursday as the countdown ticks to an update on the U.S. job market coming Friday that could clear the way for the cuts to interest rates that investors love. The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in morning trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 52 points, or 0.1%, as of 10:10 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was flat.

Silver traded recorded some volatility on Tuesday, hovering near its highest level since 2011, as investors weighed macroeconomic signals and industrial momentum. Markets continued to price in a near 90% probability of a 25 bps Federal Reserve rate cut later this month, following dovish remarks from San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, who warned of labour market fragilities and described tariff-driven inflation as likely transitory. Ongoing concerns over the Fed's independence and broader uncertainty around US trade policy kept safe-haven demand elevated.