US Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve’s tools for achieving its dual mandate
of low inflation and full employment manipulate interest rates and therefore
markets.  This manipulation of rates reverberates
globally. Their manipulation historically had been more light handed and
invisible to most of the public.  However, over the last decade, their impact on
interest rates and yield levels have been the most dramatic in the history of
the Federal Reserve. 

Back in May, we first reported that Goldman became the first bank to dare to ask if the Fed has lost control of the market, if in slightly more polite terms of course. This is how Jan Hatzius phrased it: "Despite two rate hikes and indications of impending balance sheet runoff, financial conditions have continued to loosen in recent months.

Via The Daily Bell

In case of emergency, you should always have a solid chunk of cash on hand. These days, that isn’t much riskier than keeping your money in a bank.

There are stories of banks and governments suspending accounts for no legitimate reason. Furthermore, the interest rates at banks hardly give you much incentive to store your money there.

But as with anything that gives individuals more control over their lives, the government doesn’t like it. They want the ultimate control to cut you off from your economic power.

In his latest monthly investment outlook, Janus Henderson's Bill Gross takes a trip to the dark side of monetary machinations and examines the signals (from credit, yield curves, and bitcoin) to comprehend how long this 'dance' can continue, "until the system itself breaks down."

1. Prior market tops (1987, 2000, 2007, etc.) allowed asset managers to partially “insure” their risk assets by purchasing Treasuries that could appreciate in price as the Fed lowered policy rates. Today, that “insurance” is limited with interest rates so low.

Marvin Goodfriend is not a Fed governor yet, but it’s likely asking far too much to expect US lawmakers to block President Trump’s nomination.