Gold & Silver "Sell Off" After Pseudo-Hawkish Fed Statement, Powell Goes Full Bull On US Economy, MSM Propagandists Pitch Him Softball After Softball!
Powell has just come out cheerleading and pumping the super-duper US economic recovery like never before...
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UPDATE (by Half Dollar): Initial thoughts are that Powell has come out full bull on the US markets and economy, or, at least as much of a bull as he can appear to be on Zoom.
His lack of stuttering today as well as his use of qualifiers such as "very, very strong labor market" make for an interesting plot twist, and it almost makes one wonder if hollywood booted Stevie Boy?
Regardless, direct quotes from Powell during his press conference follow -
THIS IS GOING TO BE A VERY STRONG LABOR MARKET.USED CAR PRICES ARE GOING UP BECAUSE OF A PERFECT STORM.THE ECONOMY CLEARLY HAS MADE PROGRESS.IT'S GOOD TO SEE LONGER TERM INFLATION EXPECTATIONS MOVE BACK UP.WE SEE REAL VALUE IN COMMUNICATING WELL IN ADVANCE WHAT OUR THINKING IS.WE WANT INFLATION TO AVERAGE 2% OVER TIME.REVERSE REPO FACILITY IS DOING WHAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO DO.WE'RE SEEING WAGE INCREASES, THAT'S A NATURAL THING TO BE SEEING IN A STRONG ECONOMY.WE'RE GOING TO BE IN A VERY STRONG LABOR MARKET PRETTY QUICKLY HERE.INFLATION COULD ACTUALLY BE QUITE LOW GOING FORWARD, BUT THAT'S NOT WHERE OUR FOCUS IS RIGHT NOW.WE'VE SEEN GROWTH COME IN HIGHER THANEXPECTED, WE'VE SEEN VERY HIGH LABOR DEMAND.WE WILL TAPER WHEN WE FEEL THE ECONOMY HAS ACHIEVED SUBSTANTIAL FURTHER PROGRESS.Notably, the MSM Propagandists are throwing softballs today.
So we now have a bullish Powell but a dovish Fed.
Glad I didn't drink any milk before that presser...
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(by Half Dollar) The Fed's most recent 2-day FOMC meeting has just concluded.
Here's some of the Fed's Statement (bold added for emphasis):
Progress on vaccinations has reduced the spread of COVID-19 in the United States. Amid this progress and strong policy support, indicators of economic activity and employment have strengthened. The sectors most adversely affected by the pandemic remain weak but have shown improvement. Inflation has risen, largely reflecting transitory factors. Overall financial conditions remain accommodative, in part reflecting policy measures to support the economy and the flow of credit to U.S. households and businesses.
The path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus. Progress on vaccinations will likely continue to reduce the effects of the public health crisis on the economy, but risks to the economic outlook remain.
The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. With inflation having run persistently below this longer-run goal, the Committee will aim to achieve inflation moderately above 2 percent for some time so that inflation averages 2 percent over time and longer?EUR'term inflation expectations remain well anchored at 2 percent. The Committee expects to maintain an accommodative stance of monetary policy until these outcomes are achieved. The Committee decided to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and expects it will be appropriate to maintain this target range until labor market conditions have reached levels consistent with the Committee's assessments of maximum employment and inflation has risen to 2 percent and is on track to moderately exceed 2 percent for some time. In addition, the Federal Reserve will continue to increase its holdings of Treasury securities by at least $80 billion per month and of agency mortgage?EUR'backed securities by at least $40 billion per month until substantial further progress has been made toward the Committee's maximum employment and price stability goals. These asset purchases help foster smooth market functioning and accommodative financial conditions, thereby supporting the flow of credit to households and businesses.
In assessing the appropriate stance of monetary policy, the Committee will continue to monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook. The Committee would be prepared to adjust the stance of monetary policy as appropriate if risks emerge that could impede the attainment of the Committee's goals. The Committee's assessments will take into account a wide range of information, including readings on public health, labor market conditions, inflation pressures and inflation expectations, and financial and international developments.
Nothing in the statement is a surprise to anybody, other than a superficially, slightly more hawkish statement, so attention will now turn to what Fed Chair Jerome Powell says during his press conference.
It's a presser which, coincidentally, Bumbling Biden's press conference about the nothingburger that was the bland Biden-Putin summit is timed around.
Funny how that works out, isn't it?
Regardless, at 2:30 p.m. EST, Powell will be giving his press conference, which can be viewed right here:
Anybody else notice the YouTube comments are turned off, as well as the counter for likes versus dislikes?
That's your transparent Fed in action!
But I digress.
Topics of interest will be the Fed's current take on inflation, whether the Fed is thinking about thinking about tapering, and what in the heck is going on in the Repo Market.
In my Midweek Market Report from just today, I discuss various ways the mainstream media's propagandists will spin this latest FOMC meeting as "bad for gold" if the precious metals "sell off" as a result:
The Fed's cheerleading mainstream financial press is always on a mission to cast gold & silver in a negative light. Here's how I think the mainstream could spin either Fed reaction to inflation in a way that's reported as being "bad" for gold & silver. If the narrative of transitory inflation continues, then market participants will prefer risk assets such as stocks to safe haven assets such as gold & silver. If the narrative is that the Fed is thinking about dealing with the inflation, then market participants will prefer to reduce their risk by moving into the safety of the bond market, as opposed to moving into gold & silver, because bonds pay interest and gold & silver do not. This is just my opinion on the coming propaganda if we get a post-FOMC "sell-off" in gold & silver. If the Fed is sticking to its transitory inflation narrative, then the mainstream media would also have the convenient cover of people not needing to hedge against inflation in the event of a gold & silver sell-off. The bottom line is the propaganda works both way. The propagandists get to have their cake and eat it too!
The Midweek Market Report also includes video analysis of several charts, so do check out that content over at the best online gold & silver bullion dealer's website when you get the chance later today or this evening because I did in fact call today's moves in the dollar, gold, silver and more, again.
Gold & silver sold off at the release of the Fed's statement:
Of course they did.
Developing...