FED ANNOUNCES NEW ROUND OF EASING; CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP IN QUESTION
As expected, the United States Federal Reserve has announced another round of quantitative easing. The easing also came with a guideline that this program will continue until unemployment levels drop and inflation subsides. “Taken together, these actions should maintain downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative,” the Fed committee said. More details may arise when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke holds his press conference later this afternoon.
In Europe, an important meeting between the European Union finance ministers gets under way today. This meeting is going to discuss the formation of a formal banking union between the countries. The issue of a governing body over the banking systems has been a heated debate for more than three years. Almost all the countries are on board with the idea except Germany, and they seem to be poised to join in. A German official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, “We hope for major progress and perhaps a breakthrough (in the talks). We have some questions but if they can be resolved by finance ministers today then Germany will not stand in the way of an agreement.”
The news in the United States is still surrounding the fiscal cliff and the well-publicized potentially harmful aftermath if a deal is not reached. Even with such serious consequences approaching at the end of the year, neither side seems willing to compromise. Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma summed it up in an interview on Tuesday, saying, “There's no leadership in Washington either at the presidential level or the leadership level in Congress. People are playing to the media rather than playing to the future of the country.”
At 1 p.m. (EST), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:
- Gold, $1723.00, Up $13.40.
- Silver, $33.76, Up $0.76.
- Platinum, $1646.60, Up $5.60.
- Palladium, $702.00, Up $5.20.
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