FEDERAL RESERVE

The Federal Reserve released a statement today after its June meeting, and ahead of Ben Bernanke's press conference Wednesday afternoon. The press conference will be only the second one in the Federal Reserve's history.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has a formidable challenge this afternoon when he addresses the economic and investment community post the 2-day FOMC meeting

The Federal Reserve will likely nod to renewed weakness in the U.S. economy in a post-meeting policy statement on Wednesday, but don't expect policymakers to do anything about it any time soon.

The Federal Reserve will likely acknowledge renewed weakness in the U.S. economy in a post-meeting policy statement on Wednesday, but don't expect policymakers to do anything about it any time soon.

The Federal Reserve on Tuesday began a two-day meeting against the backdrop of a weakening U.S. economy that will likely force policymakers to plan for the possibility that things may get worse.

The U.S. economy has slowed in recent months, but underlying inflation pressures are rising. How will the Federal Reserve respond?

Yesterday, a highly valued client of ours posed this question to us: ”Do you think that we are headed towards a depression?” It is not clear to me what event triggered the question, but my answer was a resounding “No”.

Stocks continued to fall in early afternoon trading Wednesday, erasing most of Tuesday's gains.

Hactivist group Anonymous has painted a giant target on the back of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

The flood of Federal Reserve money that has supported Wall Street and the rest of the U.S. economy for 2-1/2 years will shrink to a trickle with the conclusion of the Fed's bond purchases announced on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell below 12000 points on Friday, threatening to bring the stock market to a sixth consecutive week of losses. It would be the longest such slump since 2002.

The much-debated proposal to delay implementation of the Durbin amendment cap on debit-card interchange fees failed in the U.S. Senate on June 8 despite a 54-45 vote in its favor.

Tuesday's Senate vote to reduce the fees banks levy on individual debit card transactions represents a significant defeat for the financial industry and its formidable lobbying machine.

As Congress rejected a delay in the implementation of debit card regulations for further study, RBC Capital Markets anticipates near term weakness in the shares of MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) as it believes the consensus was for the delay to be approved.

This week we had two key central bank leaders discuss their views on the risk that the recent rise of inflation is more than simply transitory. And while the mandates that govern these two central banks are different, their views/actions can have significant impact on global currency movements.

The debate over whether the United States should stage a mini-debt default is largely a political one, although action must be taken on the country's fiscal situation, a top Federal Reserve official said on Thursday.

The Senate voted to keep a provision of last year's financial reform bill that caps fees on debit card transactions.

The wholesale market price of Gold Bullion continued to fall Wednesday morning, hitting $1533 per ounce - a 0.6% loss on the week - while stocks and commodities fell and US Treasuries rose following a speech on Tuesday by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday acknowledged the fact that the economy has slowed down, but offered no hint that the U.S. central bank might be considering any more stimulus to accelerate growth.

The economy hasn’t looked so good recently. The housing market is double dipping, corporate profits are starting to disappointment, and last Friday’s jobs report was beyond horrible.

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke Speech At the International Monetary Conference, Atlanta, Ga. on June 7, 2011