Viewpoints: 2019

Preemptive actions is an important feature of monetary policy, but policymakers have never made a preemptive move when the economy's actual performance has been so closely aligned with the Fed's own expectations or when the financial [...]

The strong gains in the US equity markets during the first half of 2019 were mainly driven by the "hope" of new policies than improving fundamentals. Equity investors have been "hoping" that policymakers will reverse course and lower [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's estimates of state coincident activity for May show that growth is widespread across the nation, with moderate variation. Over the prior 12 months, 32 states had indexes with gains in the 2 to 4 [...]

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's estimates of state coincident activity for May show that growth is widespread across the nation, with moderate variation. Over the prior 12 months, 32 states had indexes with gains in the 2 to 4 [...]

State personal income growth in the first quarter of 2019 averaged somewhat lower in the first quarter of 2019 than in the fourth quarter of 2018, but the variation in growth was fairly narrow. West Virginia reported the highest rate [...]

The Federal Reserve appears to be embarking on a new policy. Policymakers appear to be dangling the prospect of more monetary accommodation in order to encourage more risk-taking and use the strength of the asset markets to help them [...]

The May job numbers from the states were comparable to the national figure, showing little change in payrolls. Washington was the only state to have a statistically significant change--an increase of 9,500. Texas, California, and [...]

As mid-year approaches, helping support from falling rates and the hints of more monetary accommodation from the Fed has driven the impressive double-digit gains in equity markets. Yet, corporate profits, the ultimate driver of [...]