"In view of realized and expected labor market conditions and inflation, the Committee decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 percent."--FOMC Press Release, Dec 19, 2018 (pdf). Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Jerome H. Powell, Chairman; John C. Williams, Vice Chairman; Thomas I. Barkin; Raphael W. Bostic; Michelle W. Bowman; Lael Brainard; Richard H. Clarida; Mary C. Daly; Loretta J. Mester; and Randal K. Quarles. See also Implementation Note issued December 19, 2018.
FOMC Meeting December 18-19. 2018: The Federal Reserve's highly-anticipated December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, Tuesday-Wednesday, December 18-19, 2018. Consensus of economists is that the Fed will raise interest rates by a quarter-point to a range of between 2.25% and 2.50% and that the Fed's closely-watched dot plot will indicate two rate hikes in 2019. Any indication of the Fed's plans for the future may have an even greater impact on markets and many analysts will closely follow the LIVE press conference of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, at 2:30 p.m. EST, Dec 19, 2018. “Fed drift” is a known market anomaly, where the S&P 500 often generates most of its annual return in the 3 days around Federal Reserve meetings.
On Monday, DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeff Gundlach told CNBC-TV that the Federal Reserve should not hike its benchmark overnight lending rate in December. "I think they shouldn't raise them this week. The bond market is basically saying, 'Fed you've got no way you should be raising interest rates," said Gundlach.The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) consists of twelve members--the seven members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; and four of the remaining eleven Reserve Bank presidents, who serve one-year terms on a rotating basis. The rotating seats are filled from the following four groups of Banks, one Bank president from each group: Boston, Philadelphia, and Richmond; Cleveland and Chicago; Atlanta, St. Louis, and Dallas; and Minneapolis, Kansas City, and San Francisco. Nonvoting Reserve Bank presidents attend the meetings of the Committee, participate in the discussions, and contribute to the Committee's assessment of the economy and policy options.
The FOMC holds eight regularly scheduled meetings per year. At these meetings, the Committee reviews economic and financial conditions, determines the appropriate stance of monetary policy, and assesses the risks to its long-run goals of price stability and sustainable economic growth.
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| Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at his FOMC Press Conference September 26, 2018 |
2018 FOMC Committee Members:
- Jerome H. Powell, Board of Governors, Chairman
- John C. Williams, New York, Vice Chairman
- Thomas I. Barkin, Richmond
- Raphael W. Bostic, Atlanta
- Michelle W. Bowman, Board of Governors
- Lael Brainard, Board of Governors
- Richard H. Clarida, Board of Governors
- Mary C. Daly, San Francisco
- Loretta J. Mester, Cleveland
Alternate Members:
- Randal K. Quarles, Board of Governors
- James Bullard, St. Louis
- Charles L. Evans, Chicago
- Esther L. George, Kansas City
- Eric Rosengren, Boston
Tweets by federalreserve
- Michael Strine, First Vice President, New York
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