Stocks Continue to Waver at the Flat Line
06/10/08 - 03:39 PM EDT
Sarina Penn
At the same time, Dow Jones quoted Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher as saying he is forecasting "anemic" growth, but not a recession, and Reuters said the official would be willing to accept a slower economy if that meant inflation would be contained. Also, the Boston Fed's Eric Rosengren reportedly said inflation was running at an "undesirable" level.
Those comments would appear, once again, to suggest that the Fed won't cut interest rates again following its 325-point easing campaign over the past few months. In fact, fed-funds futures today were pricing in roughly 56% odds that the Fed will raise rates at its Aug. 5 gathering. The chances of a quarter-point hike by the September meeting are now set at 100%, and the prospect of a 50-basis-point climb by October is fully priced in. Meanwhile, crude oil earlier soared to a new high shy of the $138 mark, but reversed to slide $3.04 at $131.31 a barrel after news broke that Saudi Arabia's oil output was boosted by nearly 500,000 barrels a day this quarter at 9.54 million, according to CNBC. The network cited sources in the Saudi Oil Ministry. Higher oil prices were among the main factors driving up April's U.S. trade deficit, or the amount by which imports outweighed exports, to $60.9 billion. Analysts were looking for minus $60 billion, and that compares with March's upwardly revised figure of negative $56.5 billion. "The trade deficit heightens the risk of recession and surging unemployment," wrote Peter Morici, a business professor with the University of Maryland and former chief economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission. "Ben Bernanke's most recent comments about oil-driven inflation only serve to distract attention from these issues and aggravate risks."
RSS
