The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will meet this month to discuss the next step in monetary policy. As it stands now, the Federal Fund Futures market is pricing in only a 7 percent chance of an increase in the federal funds rate above its current 5.25 to 5.50 percent target rate. This is down from a 22 percent expected chance in late August and from the day after its last meeting on 26 July.
Here are some of the key economic indicators leading into the September meeting. Nonfarm payrolls rose 187,000 in August while civilian employment, an alternative benchmark that includes small-business start-ups, increased 222,000. Despite this growth, there were downward revisions to June and July which reduced job growth b...
What You Need to Know Today: The hot, dry weather forecast continues to drive strength in grain futures with corn and soybeans hitting another day of strong gains. Monday’s Crop Progress and Conditions data were in line with market expectations and showed relatively few concerns for the...
Yesterday we wrote about the Q1 GDP numbers and the June employment reports in an article entitled Real GDP for Q1 Relying on AI Buildout, Held Back by Consumer Spending. That article mentioned that consumer spending had become a drag on GDP. Nonetheless, real GDP in Q1 was revised upward to 2...
Key Takeaways: The Middle East and North Africa's arid climate and limited water resources have created a structural dependence on imported wheat. Government wheat tenders in major importing countries serve as important benchmarks for global trade, providing insight into exporter competitivene...
