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You are here: Home / Archives for Financial Markets

Trump Considering Herman Cain for Fed Board

January 31, 2019 at 1:24 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Bloomberg: “Cain, 73, was in the White House on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter. Two seats on the Fed board are vacant, but nominating Cain raises the prospect of a Senate confirmation hearing focused on the sexual harassment and infidelity accusations that ended his presidential campaign.”

“Cain had a long corporate career and is also familiar with the Federal Reserve system. From 1992 to 1996, he served as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, as well as deputy chairman and then chairman.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets Tagged With: Herman Cain

Wall Street Worries About 2020

January 28, 2019 at 6:15 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Top Wall Street executives would mostly love to be rid of President Donald Trump. But they are getting panicked about the prospect of an ultra-liberal Democratic nominee bent on raising their taxes and slapping new regulations on their firms. The result is a kind of nervous paralysis of executives pining for a centrist nominee like Michael Bloomberg while realizing such an outcome is highly unlikely from a party veering sharply to the left.”

“Early support from deep-pocketed financial executives could give Democrats seeking to break out of the pack an important fundraising boost. But any association with bankers also opens presidential hopefuls to sharp attacks from an ascendant left.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign, Financial Markets

Ivanka Trump Not Being Considered for World Bank Post

January 14, 2019 at 3:39 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, is overseeing the internal search for a nominee to lead the World Bank — but is not herself a candidate for the job, according to the White House,” Politico reports.

“The World Bank’s current president, Jim Yong Kim, announced last week that he will step down next month, touching off speculation about his replacement.”

The Financial Times reported that Ivanka Trump’s name was “floating around Washington” as one possibility.

Filed Under: Financial Markets

Ocasio-Cortez Likey to Join House Banking Panel

January 11, 2019 at 10:22 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “The assignment, which lawmakers say they expect her to receive, would pit the 29-year-old New Yorker not only against banks that make up a major local industry but also potentially against business-friendly Democrats who have backed financial deregulation.”

“Some moderate Democrats have privately raised concerns that they’ll be targeted by the former bartender-turned-progressive icon, whose willingness to challenge her party’s establishment propelled her to Congress and the national spotlight.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets

The Partisan Split on the Stock Market

January 5, 2019 at 7:01 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Americans’ predictions for the stock market this year are almost completely determined by party, with Democrats as pessimistic about the coming year’s stock performance as Republicans are optimistic,” according to an Axios/SurveyMonkey poll.

“The two parties are almost exact mirror images of each other, with independents caught in the middle. It’s a good reminder of how much people’s political views can shape their expectations for their personal finances, not just politics.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets

Fed Chair Would Not Quit If Trump Asked Him

January 4, 2019 at 9:22 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Friday that he would not resign if President Trump were to ask him to, Politico reports.

“While Trump has repeatedly criticized Powell on Twitter for the central bank’s campaign of steady rate hikes, the Fed chairman said there has been no direct contact between him and the president in recent months. Still, he said he would be open to meeting with Trump.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets

Stocks Roar Back After Days of Losses

December 26, 2018 at 4:09 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Stocks on Wednesday climbed back from their epic Christmas Eve plunge as all three indexes posted big gains,” the Washington Post reports.

“The Dow Jones industrial average roared more than 1,050 points in late afternoon as stocks snapped a four-day losing streak that had placed the 10-year bull market on the edge of death on Monday.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets

White House May Set Up Meeting with Fed Chair

December 26, 2018 at 7:02 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wall Street Journal: “With a view toward giving Mr. Trump a clearer idea of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s work and focus, administration aides have discussed setting up a private meeting between the two men early in the new year. The Treasury Department, headed by Steven Mnuchin, has looked into whether there was precedent for such a meeting, an administration official said. Presidents have met with Fed leaders in the past.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets

Trump’s Frustration with Mnuchin Rising

December 25, 2018 at 10:08 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump’s “frustration with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is ratcheting up further after markets suffered their worst Christmas Eve drop ever despite Mnuchin’s attempts to calm Wall Street,” CNN reports.

The source said that Mnuchin “could be in ‘serious jeopardy’ with Trump, who regularly rages at Cabinet members he feels have made mistakes, before he cools off.”

“Trump nevertheless vouched for Mnuchin publicly, shifting blame for the market volatility to the Federal Reserve instead.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets Tagged With: Steve Mnuchin

Trump Attack on Fed Exacerbates Sell Off

December 24, 2018 at 4:49 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“With stocks extending their slide Monday, President Trump took another swipe at the Federal Reserve, writing on Twitter that the ‘only problem our economy has is the Fed’ as he continued to blame the central bank for recent volatility in the financial markets,” the New York Times reports.

“But Mr. Trump’s comments only exacerbated the sell-off on Wall Street, and stocks were on track for their worst year since 2008 and the largest December decline since the 1930s. The S&P 500 closed down 2.7 percent after a shortened trading session because of the Christmas holiday.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets

Stock Market Rout Has Trump Fixated on Fed Chair

December 24, 2018 at 8:15 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump has unabashedly hitched his political fortunes to a rising stock market. Now, with stock prices in retreat, he has become increasingly fixated on the idea that one man is to blame for the recent rout: Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve,” the New York Times reports.

“After the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday, the fifth consecutive quarterly increase, Mr. Trump fretted to aides that Mr. Powell would ‘turn me into Hoover,’ a reference to the man who was president in the early years of the Great Depression. Mr. Trump has said choosing Mr. Powell for the Fed job last year was the worst mistake of his presidency and he has asked aides whether he has the power to fire him.”

“But the volatile stock market, which just posted its worst week since 2008, is falling in part because of Mr. Trump’s own policies, including an escalating trade war with China, a shutdown of the federal government and the fading effects of the $1.5 trillion tax cut Mr. Trump ushered in at the end of 2017.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets

Mnuchin Startles Wall Street

December 23, 2018 at 8:33 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin “startled financial analysts, bankers and economists on Sunday by issuing an unusual statement declaring that the nation’s six largest banks had ample credit to extend to American businesses and households,” the Washington Post reports.

“Several analysts said Sunday night that his outreach to the banks and subsequent statement were likely to backfire and drive even more concern.”

Politico: “Treasury did not say what motivated the statement.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets

Mnuchin In Damage Control Mode After Trump Remarks

December 23, 2018 at 6:11 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“In a precautionary move, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spent Sunday on the phone speaking with the chief executives of six of the country’s largest banks to avoid yet another market whiplash when Wall Street opens Monday,” CNN reports.

“The secretary… tried to get ahead of further market jitters following reports that President Trump was consulting advisers about whether he had the legal authority to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.”

Axios: “It’s unclear Trump would have the legal authority to take such action. Such a move would also undermine international faith in the Fed.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets Tagged With: Jerome Powell, Steve Mnuchin

Mnuchin Denies Trump Wants to Fire Fed Chair

December 22, 2018 at 6:44 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin denied an earlier report that President Trump has spoken privately about firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell following the Fed’s decision to hike interest rates for the fourth time during his tenure, Axios reports.

As the earlier report notes, firing Powell “could have potentially devastating ripple effects across financial markets.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets

Trump Has Discussed Firing Fed Chair

December 22, 2018 at 11:25 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump “has discussed firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as his frustration with the central bank chief intensified following this week’s interest-rate increase and months of stock-market losses,” Bloomberg reports.

“Advisers close to Trump aren’t convinced he would move against Powell and are hoping that the president’s latest bout of anger will dissipate over the holidays… Some of Trump’s advisers have warned him that firing Powell would be a disastrous move.”

“Yet the president has talked privately about firing Powell many times in the past few days.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets

Trump Worries Stock Market Slide Will Hurt Him In 2020

December 21, 2018 at 11:35 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “The president has complained to aides about how unfair it is that he is blamed for the market’s slide and for growing unease about an economic slowdown in the months to come.”

“And he has needled Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell about the pace at which the central bank has raised short-term interest rates. The lower the market drops, the more the president worries that he is losing his most potent argument for reelection.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign, Financial Markets

Will the Fed Keep Hiking Rates?

December 19, 2018 at 7:00 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Federal Reserve Board will announce whether it will continue to hike interest rates at 2:30 p.m.

Axios: “There’s never been a Federal Reserve interest-rate decision quite like this, with the central bank facing public criticism from the president and a whipsawing stock market.”

Financial Times: “Fed officials have signaled they will boost rates by a quarter point at the meeting, and holding fire would look skittish, according to analysts and strategists. It would send a markedly downbeat signal about the economic outlook; it might indicate the Fed is overly influenced by market turbulence; and it would trigger claims that the president is influencing policy.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets

Trump Keeps Close Eye on Market Turmoil

December 7, 2018 at 1:26 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“As the stock market churned this week, President Trump anxiously called advisers both inside and outside the White House looking for validation that his talks with China were not driving the sell-off,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Fresh off what he described as a ‘historic’ weekend meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping, Mr. Trump has questioned why the markets weren’t reacting more positively to the news of his potential breakthrough with Beijing. In consulting with advisers, he remained convinced that the volatility wasn’t his own doing, but rather, the product of the Federal Reserve’s plan to raise the benchmark interest rate.”

“But investors—and many within his administration—saw it differently… Publicly, Mr. Trump has often dismissed market fluctuations as part of a natural correction, but several people close to the president say he places as much importance on the health of the Dow Jones Industrial Average for validation of his job performance as he does with his polling numbers.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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