Federal Reserve

The news keeps getting better and the “data dependent” Federal Reserve is definitely paying attention.

The Federal Open Market Committee maintained near-zero interest rates, but did not directly suggest when it might raise interest rates. 

New York state business conditions in June are contracting for the second time in three months, according to data released Monday.

The Fed begins its two-day policy setting meeting Tuesday, and a majority of the FOMC have expressed that interest rates will likely move higher in 2015.

In its Beige Book report, the central bank said the economy should grow at a modest to moderate pace.

On Friday, the government is expected to revise downward its estimate of first-quarter economic growth from a rate of 0.2% to a contraction of 0.8% -- raising questions about whether the cause is temporary or a result of underlying growth problems.

When the Federal Reserve raises U.S. interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade, it should weigh the effects on global economies and can expect some bouts of financial market volatility, a top Fed official said on Tuesday.

April meeting minutes show the Fed’s policy-setting committee discussed strategies for normalizing monetary policy after the first interest-rate hike.

Housing and inflation data and the minutes from last month’s policy-setting meeting of the Federal Reserve highlight next week’s economic calendar. All of the data will be intensely scrutinized as investors and other market participants attempt to determine whether the economy is still slowly reviving or slipping back into an extended slowdown.

For months the Fed used the word ‘patience’ to describe its stance toward a rate hike. Having lost ‘patience’ in March, the new buzzword is ‘flexible.’ As used by the Fed, the terms are essentially synonymous. 

Have our lawmakers learned nothing from history?

San Francisco Fed President John C. Williams sees a rate hike sooner rather than later with one caveat.

What the Fed really wants is the flexibility to raise rates when they are absolutely certain higher borrowing costs won’t completely derail the recovery

Students of Fed rhetoric will have their hands full this week trying to determine whether U.S. central bankers intend to raise interest rates sooner or later.

The Federal Reserve’s policy-setting meeting will be the highlight of next week’s economic calendar.  

The question now is not so much if but when the next bubble will inflate and burst, and what role if any the Fed will play in warning investors that the next financial calamity is lurking around the corner.

Japan is now the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt, knocking China out of first place. Economic policies in Japan are keeping interest rates near record lows there, and Japanese investors have put more money in the U.S., whose Treasury bonds offer higher yields.

Fifteen months after leaving the Federal Reserve, former Fed Chief Ben Bernanke has taken an advisory role with billionaire Ken Griffin's hedge fund Citadel.

The first-quarter earnings season will be underway in the middle of next week as Aloca reports its latest numbers.In addition, traders will get the latest look at the Fed's thought process from its most recent meeting minutes.

The weakening U.S. economy spilled into the job market in March as employers added only 126,000 jobs, snapping a streak of 12 consecutive months of job gains above 200,000.