“By doubling down on the investigation into Jerome Powell, President Donald Trump is ensuring that the Federal Reserve chair won’t go anywhere soon,” Semafor reports.

“After Powell said he would remain at the central bank until the Justice Department drops its investigation into Fed renovations, Trump on Thursday put his weight behind the probe, telling reporters: ‘There is criminality.’”

New York Times: “The escalating conflict in the Middle East has narrowed the Federal Reserve’s path to lower interest rates this year, as surging energy prices have injected fresh uncertainty into the economic outlook.”

“Jerome H. Powell said Wednesday that he would remain at the helm of the Federal Reserve after the expiration of his term as chair in mid-May, as long as his successor has not yet been confirmed by the Senate,” the Washington Post reports.

“That is the opposite outcome that President Donald Trump has been pushing for. For months, Trump has waged an unusually aggressive campaign against Powell — publicly demanding steep interest rate cuts and at times threatening to try to remove Powell before his term expired.”

Wall Street Journal: “Powell’s term as chair ends May 15, but he can stay on the board after that because he is separately confirmed to a 14-year term there that runs until early 2028. Fed chiefs rarely stay on the board after their chairmanship ends.”

“The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady Wednesday and preserved a path to cutting rates this year as higher energy prices from the Iran war threaten to prolong their yearslong inflation fight,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Officials voted 11-1 to hold the benchmark federal-funds rate in a range between 3.5% and 3.75%, the second consecutive meeting with no change.”

Politico: “Trump is demanding that the Federal Reserve immediately lower borrowing costs. But the war in the Middle East has now made any interest rate cuts much less likely in 2026 — not just in the U.S. but around the world. With oil prices surging past $100 a barrel and Gulf shipping routes disrupted by the Iran war, governments and investors are bracing for a repeat of the 2022 energy shock.”

“A federal judge threw out a pair of subpoenas the Justice Department issued to the Federal Reserve, handing a victory to the Fed and dealing a heavy blow to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s criminal investigation into Chair Jerome Powell,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Wall Street Journal: “This U.S.-centric idea ran counter to the market realities…  Maritime war risks policies are sold mostly out of Lloyd’s of London, with foreign insurers covering foreign ships and cargo.” 

“U.S. officials called London insurers and brokers, trying to figure out how the market operates, industry insiders said. Some have received calls asking for confidential data on the Lloyd’s market that participants have been reluctant to share.”

“President Trump’s fixation on financial markets as the measure of his stewardship of the economy came into focus again this week when he vacillated on his outlook for the length of the war with Iran as oil and stock prices swung wildly,” the New York Times reports.

“Mortgage rates fell below 6% this week for the first time in more than three years, welcome news for waves of house hunters heading into the busy spring home-buying season,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Punchbowl News: “Wall Street is reacting to Trump’s latest tariff moves following last week’s blockbuster Supreme Court decision…”

“But markets are also reacting to a vaster set of economic and policy questions. How long will it take for the totality of the new Trump tariff regime to take shape, if ever? What happens to the many trade agreements that were finalized last year or remain in progress? Do U.S. businesses have billions of dollars in tariff refunds on the way?”

“The inability to answer these questions right now makes the fallout from the SCOTUS ruling that much more chaotic for the corporate world.”

“Far from being a source of relief, the Supreme Court’s takedown of President Donald Trump’s tariffs has infused new risks and uncertainties into trade policy, U.S. debt and the dollar,” Reuters reports.

“For years, President Trump has complained that his personal and business bank accounts were deliberately closed after the Jan 6., 2021, attack on the Capitol,” the New York Times reports.

“JPMorgan Chase is now admitting that did happen.”

“Roundhill Investments has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission for permission to launch six ETFs that would let investors wager on U.S. election outcomes through standard brokerage accounts — the most ambitious attempt yet to bring prediction markets into mainstream finance,” Bloomberg reports.

“The proposed exchange-traded funds, disclosed in a filing on Feb. 13, cover presidential, Senate and House races across both parties.”

Wall Street Journal: “Dozens of tankers filled with Russian oil are floating at sea without buyers. Western powers are seizing the aging ships the country relies upon. Buyers of Russian oil are demanding the steepest discount to global oil prices since the early months of the war in Ukraine.”

“It all spells crunchtime from Moscow’s most important economic engine.”

Will Gottsegen: “Since taking office, Trump has established himself as the face of crypto through his flagrant promotional tactics (remember those limited-edition bitcoin-orange sneakers?), his sweeping deregulation efforts, and, of course, his family’s investments in digital assets. The Trumps have now made hundreds of millions of dollars from cryptocurrencies, according to recent estimates.”

“Despite these links, crypto’s fate isn’t solely tied to the Trumps. There’s no single cause for the current downturn, but it demonstrates that a president’s intervention—even intervention as consistent as Trump’s—can only do so much to keep cryptocurrencies afloat.”