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You are here: Home / Archives for Financial Markets

Fed Signals Half-Point Increases Could Be Warranted

April 6, 2022 at 2:25 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Federal Reserve officials last month strongly considered raising rates by a half-percentage point and neared agreement on a plan to reduce their bondholdings as part of their most aggressive effort in years to curb price pressures,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Filed Under: Financial Markets

Le Pen’s Polling Surge Rattles French Markets

April 6, 2022 at 7:46 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“French bank shares fell sharply and bond spreads widened yesterday as investors priced in stronger presidential election poll numbers for Marine Le Pen, the far-right challenger,” the Financial Times reports.

“The risk of a Le Pen victory has suddenly come into sharper focus ahead of the first round of voting on Sunday as opinion polls showed her gaining ground on President Emmanuel Macron, although he is still favored to win a run-off on April 24.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets, Foreign Elections

Russia Moves Closer to Default

April 5, 2022 at 7:58 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The US Treasury said it would halt Russia’s ability to make debt payments in dollars through American banks, bringing Moscow a step closer to a possible default on its obligations to international investors, the Financial Times reports.

CNN: “The move was meant to force Moscow to make the difficult decision of whether it would use dollars that it has access to for payments on its debt or for other purposes, including supporting its war effort… Russia faces a historic default if it chooses to not do so.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets, Foreign Affairs

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Inside Russia’s High-Wire Act to Avoid Default

March 25, 2022 at 4:03 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Some payments arrived on time. Others hit several days late. And an increasing number are getting stuck in a web of financial intermediaries that are struggling to comply with international sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his allies,” Bloomberg reports.

“A month since the country’s invasion of Ukraine, investors are starting to realize just how narrow the path is for Russia — and some of its biggest corporations — to avoid default. That’s casting a pall over a country that was once a darling of emerging-market investors and now looks set to lose 15 years of economic gains by the end of 2023.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets, Foreign Affairs

Russia Central Banker Wanted Out Over Ukraine

March 23, 2022 at 1:23 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Russia’s highly regarded central bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina sought to resign after Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine, only to be told by the president to stay,” Bloomberg reports.

“Nominated for a new five-year term last week, Nabiullina’s current views couldn’t be learned. She is left to manage the fallout from a war that’s quickly undone much of what’s she’s accomplished in the nine years since she took office. The people said departure now would be seen as a betrayal by the president, with whom she has worked closely for nearly two decades.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets, Foreign Affairs

Russian Stock Market to Partially Reopen

March 23, 2022 at 9:33 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Russia’s stock market is set to have a partial reopening Thursday, nearly a month after it shut down following the invasion of Ukraine,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The challenge for Moscow is that the resumption of trading could simply send Russian stocks back into free fall.”

“To limit the fallout, Moscow has turned to some heavy-handed policies. It blocked foreign investors from dumping local stocks—a move that some market participants saw as retaliation for a Western freeze on Russian central bank assets since a big chunk of the Russian market is owned by foreigners. The Russian government ordered its sovereign-wealth fund to buy billions of dollars worth of shares.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets, Foreign Affairs

Mortgage Rates Top 4%

March 17, 2022 at 10:34 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage topped 4% for the first time since May 2019, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Filed Under: Financial Markets

Russia Claims It Made Bond Payment

March 17, 2022 at 8:21 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Russia’s finance ministry said on Thursday that it had made a $117 million payment on interest due on two U.S. dollar-denominated bonds. The payments are due this week to prevent Russia’s first default on foreign debt since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution,” the New York Times reports.

“The ministry said the payment had been made to a ‘foreign correspondent bank’ on Monday, but it was unclear whether the bondholders will receive the money.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets, Foreign Affairs

Federal Reserve Begins Interest Rate Increases

March 16, 2022 at 2:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Federal Reserve lifted its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday as policymakers took their first decisive step toward trying to tame rapid inflation by cooling the economy,” the New York Times reports.

“Policymakers also projected six more increases over the course of 2022 as inflation comes in at a 40-year high.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets

Russian Oligarch Invested $1.3 Billion With U.S. Firms

March 16, 2022 at 12:30 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

BuzzFeed News: “Between 2001 and 2016, a secretive network of 10 offshore companies plunged a whopping $1.3 billion into American investment firms and hedge funds.”

“The money, sent through the high-secrecy jurisdictions of the British Virgin Islands and Cyprus, was difficult to trace. But with the help of confidential banking records, investigators at State Street, one of America’s oldest banks, stumbled upon the identity of the mystery investor: Roman Abramovich, the oligarch famous for his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets, Foreign Affairs

Sarah Bloom Raskin Withdraws Her Nomination

March 15, 2022 at 3:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

In the face of what she described as “relentless attacks by special interests” who oppose her view that climate change could pose a threat to economic stability, Sarah Bloom Raskin submitted a letter to President Joe Biden withdrawing as his nominee to the Federal Reserve Board, the New Yorker reports.

Washington Post: “Raskin’s path was all but doomed after Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee boycotted her confirmation vote and Sen. Joe Manchin said he opposed her.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets

Russia Threatens to Pay Bondholders in Roubles

March 14, 2022 at 7:46 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Russia has threatened to pay international bondholders in roubles rather than dollars just days before a key interest payment on its external debt comes due,” the Financial Times reports.

“Moscow is scheduled to make a combined $117 million in interest payments this Wednesday on two dollar-denominated bonds… Neither bond’s contracts gives Russia the option of paying in roubles.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets, Foreign Affairs

Russian Stock Market to Remain Frozen for Third Week

March 12, 2022 at 2:12 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Moscow Exchange said Saturday the country’s main stock market will stay closed next week, through March 18,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The stock market hasn’t opened since Feb. 25, the day after the invasion and just before the West unveiled a punishing round of sanctions on Russia’s financial system.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets, Foreign Affairs

Biden Vows Russian Stock Market Will ‘Blow Up’

March 11, 2022 at 1:33 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Biden said the economic sanctions put on Russia will cause their stock exchange to melt down if it’s ever opened again, Mediaite reports.

Said Biden: “Moscow stock exchange is closed for a simple reason. Why is it closed? Because for the last two weeks because the moment it opens, it will be disbanded. Hear me? It will blow up.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets

Deutsche Bank Won’t Exit Russia

March 11, 2022 at 8:41 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Deutsche Bank said it is not “practical” to close its Russia business, despite similar moves by major corporations seeking to distance themselves from the country over its invasion of Ukraine, CNBC reports.

Filed Under: Financial Markets, Foreign Affairs

How Goldman Sachs Profits from War In Ukraine

March 10, 2022 at 9:39 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Goldman Sachs, the giant New York investment bank, is cashing in on the war in Ukraine by selling Russian debt to U.S. hedge funds — and using a legal loophole in the Biden administration’s sanctions to do it,” NBC News reports.

“As the Western world scrambles to defend Ukraine by locking down Russian money, the company is acting as a broker between Moscow’s creditors and U.S. investors, pitching clients on the opportunity to take advantage of Russia’s war-crippled economy by buying its debt securities low now and selling them high later.”

Filed Under: Financial Markets, Foreign Affairs

Biden Orders Sweeping Cryptocurrency Review

March 9, 2022 at 12:02 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Biden signed an executive order Wednesday for a sweeping review of the government’s approach to cryptocurrencies, aiming to secure the nation’s position as a leader in the rapidly growing industry while containing risks to consumers and the financial system itself,” the Washington Post reports.

Filed Under: Financial Markets

Russia Credit Crunch Raises Specter of Default

March 3, 2022 at 7:30 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The international financial sanctions against Russia are driving the country toward a credit crisis, as restrictions on Moscow’s access to foreign currency stoke concerns about defaults on external debt,” Nikkei Asia reports.

Filed Under: Financial Markets, Foreign Affairs

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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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