Back to Insights

Uncertainty at the fed

November 1, 2017 | Commentary

  • The Federal Reserve began raising policy rates from a long-held zero base late in 2015, paused for a year, and then resumed the process into 2017 with three more 25 basis point increases. The market widely expects another 25 basis point hike in December. Public communication from the Fed suggests more hikes are planned for 2018 and beyond.
  • Complicating this picture is the possibility of a new Chair in February when Janet Yellen’s current term expires. There are also currently 3 unfilled slots on the Federal Reserve Board and Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), making today’s forecasts from the board and district bank presidents subject to considerable change.
  • No matter who becomes the next Fed Chair, chances are good that policy making will continue to be carefully reasoned based on all the best available data and not a formulaic approach that would hamstring independent action by the FOMC.
  • The leading names discussed in public for the next Chair terms are serious economists and bankers, expert in monetary affairs, which should ease most fears in the stock market. They do, however, present different philosophies that could lead to varying emphasis between growth in GDP and inflation in forming monetary policy. It is probably a wasted exercise to try to position portfolios anticipating either tight or loose monetary policy starting next year.

To continue reading and to learn more about Offit Capital, login or contact us.

Connect Now

Privacy Notice

Provided in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Commission's rule regarding the privacy of consumer financial information (Regulation S-P).

Information We Collect

Offit Capital must collect certain personally identifiable financial information about its clients to ensure that it offers the highest quality financial services and products. The personally identifiable financial information which we gather during the normal course of doing business with you may include:

Information We Disclose

We do not disclose any nonpublic personal information about our clients or former clients to anyone, except as permitted by law. Nonpublic personal information means personally identifiable financial information and any list, description or other grouping of clients that is derived using any personally identifiable financial information that is not publicly available.

In accordance with Section 248.13 of Regulation S-P, we may disclose all of the information we collect, as described above, to certain nonaffiliated third parties such as attorneys, accountants, auditors and persons or entities that are assessing our compliance with industry standards. We enter into contractual agreements with all nonaffiliated third parties that prohibit such third parties from disclosing or using the information other than to carry out the purposes for which we disclose the information.

Confidentiality & Security

We restrict access to nonpublic personal information about you to those employees who need to know that information to provide financial products or services to you. We maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with federal standards to guard your nonpublic personal information.

Forgot your password? No Account? Request Access.

Request Access

Note: You will be emailed an access link upon submitting this form.