The Fed Open Market Committee met last week and its decision was to continue the $85 billion a month in purchases of mortgages and Treasury bonds indefinitely. However, in his press conference after the meeting, Fed Chairman Bernanke hinted that the Fed could reduce these purchases later this year if the economy continues to improve. Very few in the financial media picked up on this important new clue, so I will expound on it today.
There are some reasons to believe that the economy will improve later this year. The housing sector continues to rebound. Home prices have surged so far this year. The number of people who are "under water" on their mortgages is falling, and foreclosures are down as well. Some other economic indicators are also pointing higher. So while the economy still feels like a recession, growth should be better in the second half.
Would you like to know the real story on why we haven't started building the Keystone Pipeline that would bring apprx. 600,000 barrels of oil a day from Canada and North Dakota to the Texas Gulf Coast? So did I. Today, I have reprinted the best article I have seen on this subject. I trust you'll find it enlightening, but it will almost certainly make you mad!
Finally, I've been warning about the bond market bubble since late last summer, and Treasury bond prices have come down significantly since the peak back in late July. I close out today's letter with some links to the actively-managed bond programs we recommend. If you still haven't taken steps to protect yourself from bond losses, I urge you to consider moving to one or more of these professionally managed programs before it's too late.
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