At a meeting with Congress on Wednesday, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen reiterated the Fed’s plan to raise interest rates in the months ahead.
But her words seemed to come with a hint of doubt…
Yellen discussed several concerns about the economy that could make the Federal Reserve hesitate on the timing of rate hikes.
Yellen admitted that growth was slowing in the United States due to declines in stock prices, higher rates for risky borrowers, and the appreciation of the U.S. dollar.
With many analysts concerned that another economic recession could be coming, lawmakers asked whether the Fed would consider controversial negative interest rates. These negative interest rates are only brought up because interest rates are already so low.
Yellen responded by saying there was nothing to prevent the Fed from lowering rates below zero.
As the Fed continues to experiment with its monetary policy tools, the markets have been taking a beating.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped nearly 13% from its May highs. And the Nasdaq is down 17% from its July highs.
And according to Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald, the Fed’s experiments “won’t end well” for the markets. Fitz-Gerald made his usual appearance on CNBC yesterday (Wednesday) and discussed the serious negative impact the Federal Reserve is having on the stock market now…
Follow Money Morning on Facebook and Twitter.
About Money Morning: Money Morning gives you access to a team of ten market experts with more than 250 years of combined investing experience – for free. Our experts – who have appeared on FOXBusiness, CNBC, NPR, and BloombergTV – deliver daily investing tips and stock picks, provide analysis with actions to take, and answer your biggest market questions. Our goal is to help our millions of e-newsletter subscribers and Moneymorning.com visitors become smarter, more confident investors.To get full access to all Money Morning content, click here.
Disclaimer: © 2016 Money Morning and Money Map Press. All Rights Reserved. Protected by copyright of the United States and international treaties. Any reproduction, copying, or redistribution (electronic or otherwise, including the world wide web), of content from this webpage, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of Money Morning. 16 W. Madison St. Baltimore, MD, 21201.
Members of the editorial and news staff of the Daily Caller were not involved in the creation of this content.