Fed is failing, says Trump, as global rates tumble
B. Riley FBR Global Bond Strategist Mark Grant on the impact of negative interest rate policies and whether the Federal Reserve may do the same thing.
President Trump renewed his criticism of the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, saying the U.S. central bank acted "far too quickly" on raising rates.
“'The Fed has got to do something! The Fed is the Central Bank of the United States, not the Central Bank of the World.' Mark Grant @Varneyco," Trump wrote in a tweet. "Correct! The Federal Reserve acted far too quickly, and now is very, very late. Too bad, so much to gain on the upside!"
Less than two hours later, Trump criticized Fed Chairman Jerome Powell for what he sees as two "enormous" mistakes: Powell saying a July rate cut was a "mid-cycle adjustment," and him saying the Fed is data dependent.
And shortly before the stock market closed on Wednesday, the president took yet another shot at the U.S. central bank chief as well as boasting that China was losing an economic clash with America.
The slams come as global central banks cut interest rates. Germany, France and Japan are among the countries with negative rates, while four other banks cut rates last week; New Zealand, India, Thailand and the Philippines.
Those actions, along with the inverted yield curve, are ramping up pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut rates for the second time in September after July’s move. Investors are also speculating rates could fall even further.
Grant, the chief global strategist at B. Riley FBR, said Wednesday on "Varney & Co." that rates of U.S. Treasuries could fall below zero.
“I think it’s possible," Grant said. "It certainly looks to me like, because of what the central banks have done in the rest of the world – meaning in one week’s time we went from negative yields to $15.1 trillion [in debt], we’re now at $15.9 trillion [in debt] and the Fed has got to respond to this … there’s just no choice."
He added: "The other central banks of the world have ring-fenced us and we have to do something. The Fed is the central bank of the United States, not the central bank of the world and they’ve got to step up to protect our economy.”