seekingalpha : Federal Reserve Not Ready For September Rate Increase

Federal Reserve Not Ready For September Rate Increase

The Fed reduced "excess reserves" in the banking system in the two months before such an increase in the policy rate last December.In terms of the Fed's balance sheet, nothing has been done to prepare the market for such an increase.Various Federal Reserve officials continue to talk about the possibility of increasing the Fed's policy rate at its September FOMC meeting.

Federal Reserve Chatter is Feeding Unneeded Volatility

On Monday, stocks recovered all of Friday's losses, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.3% and the S&P 500 up 1.5%.The gains followed the worst day of declines since the Brexit vote, but Monday's reversal is the largest one-day reversal this year.And the S&P 500 had its biggest one-day gain since early in July.

Centrist figure at the Federal Reserve to step down next year

Dennis Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, appears at the Jackson Hole economic symposium sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, in Moran, Wyo., on Aug. 26.(David Paul Morris/Bloomberg News)Dennis Lockhart, head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, announced Tuesday that he will step down next year after serving as a quietly influential moderate at the central bank for the past decade.Lockhart built his career in finance and often brought a business perspective to an institution that has become increasingly dominated by academic economists.

Westfield Financial, Inc. and Chicopee Bancorp, Inc. Receive Federal Reserve And OCC Approval for Merger Transaction

WESTFIELD, Mass., & CHICOPEE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Westfield Financial, Inc. (the "Company" or "Westfield") (NasdaqGS: WFD), the holding company for Westfield Bank (the "Bank") and Chicopee Bancorp, Inc. ("Chicopee") (NASDAQ: CBNK), the holding company for Chicopee Savings Bank, today jointly announced the Company's receipt of final regulatory approval from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Bank's receipt of approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in connection with the previously announced merger transaction with Chicopee.Closing of the transaction remains subject to receipt of approvals from the Massachusetts Board of Bank Incorporation and the shareholders of Westfield and Chicopee.About Westfield Financial, Inc.Westfield Financial, Inc. is a Massachusetts-chartered stock holding company and the parent company of Westfield Bank, Elm Street Securities Corporation, WFD Securities, Inc. and WB Real Estate Holdings, LLC.

Federal Reserve Needs to Put. The Money. Back.

One of my favorite moments from the great Gene Wilder – rightly honored after his recent passing – is a scene in "Young Frankenstein" where he and Teri Garr stumble upon a secret passage-way in the elder Frankenstein's castle.When she takes a candle out of its holder, Wilder is instantly trapped.He gives Garr the obvious directive that she needs to "Put.