Atlanta Fed president Dennis Lockhart keeps making a fool out of himself by yapping about rate hikes for over a year.
This time, not only does he warn about hikes, he is on the lookout for bubbles.
Why he cannot see them is a mystery.
Dennis Lockhart Has Eye Out For Bubbles
MarketWatch reports Fed’s Lockhart Doesn’t Rule Out Rate Hike as Soon as September
Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said Tuesday he would not rule out an interest rate hike in September and said he was watching closely for signs of possible asset bubbles.
“At this point I don’t rule out a rate increase at the next meeting or later in the year,” Lockhart said in an interview on CNBC.
Lockhart Did Not Rule Out Anything
In addition to not ruling out rate hikes, he did not rule out Apple Pie or Tuna Casserole. In fact, he did not rule out anything that I am aware of.
Thank goodness he is on the lookout for bubbles. We should all be relieved.
Dudley and Kaplan “Hikes on the Table”
I addition to Lockkart, Dallas Fed president Robert Kaplan and New York Fed president William Dudley warn that rate hikes are on the table.
However, Dudley and Kaplan fail to convince market.
A pair of Federal Reserve officials, on separate visits to Asia, suggested overnight that the financial markets are too complacent about a September rate hike. However, investors back in the U.S. basically ignored the admonishments.
In a Bloomberg television interview from China, Dallas Fed President Rob Kaplan said a September rate hike “is very much on the table.”
New York Fed President William Dudley, in a speech in Indonesia, said he could definitely see the Fed raising interest rates even before the election.
“The market doesn’t believe the Fed, it hasn’t been listening for a while,” said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. in New York.
Always Complications
Flashback August 24, 2015: Fed’s Lockhart Says Planned Rate Hike Complicated by China.
Rate Hike Excuses
Rate Hike Excuses – It’s always something: China, Brexit, Payroll Numbers, GDP, Not Enough Apple Pie, Too Much Tuna Casserole.
— Mike “Mish” Shedlock (@MishGEA) August 3, 2016
Rate Hike Odds 50-50
Rate hike odds are roughly 50-50 for June of 2017.
Finally, Inquiring minds may wish to consider what happened Lockhart had “Kaleidoscope Eyes” for rate hikes.
For discussion, please see “The hikes are coming! The hikes are coming!”; Kaleidoscope Eyes Revisited.
Fed President Lockhart needs to shut his mouth and open his eyes. If he did, he could not help but spot the bubbles this Fed has blown.
— Mike “Mish” Shedlock (@MishGEA) August 3, 2016
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
