Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell on Friday acknowledged that the economy has grown more turbulent in the three weeks since the Fed cut rates for the first time in a decade -- but stopped short of giving any indication about what might be coming at the next rate-setting meeting in September.
Asian markets mostly moved cautiously higher Friday as investors awaited Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's speech for clues on whether the US central bank will cut interest rates in the future.
The Dow and US stocks were all over the place in choppy Thursday trading, after the bond market once again flashed warning lights that a recession could be coming.
President Donald Trump enjoyed a brief stock market bounce after deciding to delay his threatened tariffs on Chinese-made cell phones and toys, but Wednesday's very bad day for the US stock market underscored the grim economic reality facing the President as he runs for reelection.
Four former heads of the Federal Reserve have warned that an erosion of the central bank's independence will undermine financial markets and damage the economy.
The Dow fell as much as 450 points Wednesday afternoon after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the quarter-point rate cut that the Fed had approved earlier in the day was a one-off.
In May of 2011, then-Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner issued a stark warning letter to Congress: the US government had hit the debt limit and would no longer be able to pay its bills past August 2. That gave Congress exactly 11 weeks before America's wallet would be empty.
Facebook is willing to delay its entrance into the cryptocurrency market to work with regulators, Facebook executive David Marcus said in prepared remarks ahead of Congressional hearings on Libra this week.
The Dow and the S&P 500 finished at new all-time highs on Thursday.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is one of President Donald Trump's favorite targets, but he's cultivated an army of fans at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.
