Business

With only three weeks left until her final meeting as chairwoman of the FOMC, Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen today will make what's expected to be her final appearance before Congress when she delivers testimony to the Joint Economic Committee. The Fed was already widely expected to raise interest rates next month, but in case there was any doubt, Yellen pushed the dollar higher when she released her prepared remarks. In her remarks, she praised the "increasingly broad-based" economic expansion that she is leaving in the hands of her successor and colleague, Jerome Powell.

Authored by John Rubino via DollarCollapse.com,

The yield curve is one of those indicators that most people have heard of but few can explain. In part this is because it’s usually a non-issue, only becoming important enough to argue about during the final year of long expansions.

Like now:

Yield curve flattening maintains relentless momentum

We own gold bullion to "support national security" - Russian Central Bank

US equity futures continued their push higher into record territory overnight (ES +0.1%), and the VIX is 1.5% lower and back under 10, after yesterday's blistering surge in US stocks which jumped 1%, the most since Sept. 11, following Powell's deregulation promise, ahead of today's 2nd estimate of U.S. Q3 GDP which is expected to be revised up. U.S.

In a surprising, and unexpected warning - which seemingly came out of nowhere - Russia's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov cautioned Washington yesterday that "If our gold and currency reserves can be arrested, even if such a thought exists, it would be financial terrorism."