INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Jerome Powell has been sucked into a one-sided communication fight with Donald Trump, who blames Federal Reserve chairman for losses in
But he can try to prevent equity prices becoming barometer of Fed success by reminding public that Congress gave it a different mandate:
equity prices have plunged almost 15 per cent, and Trump has put blame squarely on Fed
Bloomberg News reported Dec
21 that president had discussed firing Powell.
The Fed chief has a chance to snatch initiative back with public appearances on Friday in
The SP 500 index fell more than 5 per cent from December 19-21.
NOT JUST FEDThe slide in share prices has many causes, analysts say.
Stocks
may have been over-valued relative to a forecast for moderating US and global growth in 2019
Domestic stimulus engineered by Trump in early 2018 will fade in coming quarters
China and eurozone both show signs of slowing
are few signs of rising inflation.
For all that, data show Fed is doing what Congress asked it to
The two projected rate hikes could disappear, just as four increases foreseen at end of 2015 turned into just one during 2016
Twitter and each of his tweets on Fed is amplified by blaring media headlines
The Fed Board has 500,000 followers, and generally limits its tweets to dry topics like speeches or economic research
market professionals.
COULD DO BETTERIt could do better, according to Richard Torrenzano, chief executive of The Torrenzano Group, which
of what problems Fed can or should solve, according to Mickey Levy, chief US and Asia economist at Berenberg Capital Markets
