interest rates Tag Archives — Securities Fraud Lawyers Blog

Coming This December: Federal Rate Hikes… (More in 2018)

Published on: December 1, 2017 | by Savage Villoch Law, PLLC

There’s been chatter recently among economic experts that federal rate hikes would likely soon be on the way. Since 2016, the Federal Reserve has risen interest rates three times, but they’ve not not made any definitive announcements on the further hikes, leaving it open to speculation when they’d actually be introduced.

It appears that economists and experts have now been able to reach a consensus. In fact, it appears that the recent Senate tax reform bill passed on Friday may have forced the Fed’s hand. In a recent article, Reuters reports that the recent legislation has forced a shift in risk-forecasting; toward a need for higher federal rate hikes and sooner.

According to the article, experts are projecting three rate hikes between now and 2019. This is actually in accordance with the Fed’s own projections, however the reasoning is up for debate.

Investors and Traders Await Interest Rate Hikes

Published on: March 10, 2017 | by Savage Villoch Law, PLLC

Rate hikes on the way

The Federal Reserve recently announced that interest rate hikes likely, causing trading and investing to slow. Fed Chairwoman, Janet Yellen will most likely announce increases later this week, with several more expected throughout 2017. Rates will likely increase 0.75-1.00 percent, initially, according to a Reuters report.

The Fed’s announcement considerably slowed the recent tech and industrial market rally Wall Street has been experiencing. Investors and securities traders are waiting to see how these increased rates will affect market holdings.

Fed Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged

Published on: September 28, 2016 | by Savage Villoch Law, PLLC

Low Interest Rates Remain

The Federal Reserve has decided to leave interest rates alone for the foreseeable future, according to a report from Reuters. Despite the fact that a target rate-hike was announced last December, the Fed has deferred any increases as part of a long-term plan to reignite the U.S. economy.

President of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, Neel Kashkari, stated that “the U.S. economy has room to grow before it overheats”.

CFPB Database Reveals Wolves of Wall Street

Published on: September 7, 2016 | by Savage Villoch Law, PLLC

Jordan Belfort may have bestowed the title ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ on himself, but we all know that wolves travel in packs – and it looks like Wall Street is full of them. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) a financial watch-dog group has recently released a database outlining complaints against several of the nation’s top banking and investment groups. The database, which focuses heavily on Wall Street stalwarts, including Citibank (part of Citigroup) and Chase (of JPMorgan Chase), is chock full of consumer complaints against these financial giants in regards to predatory banking tactics.

By navigating a simple search by name of any number of these banks, consumers can find mass-stores of complaints lodged against them, most stemming from the 1999 repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act.

Instituted in 1933, the Glass-Steagell Act served to prevent banks holding insured deposits from affiliating with investment banks and brokerage firms on Wall Street. The Glass-Steagall Act protected consumers from falling prey to stock fraud and financial abuse from these entities. Under pressure from large Wall Street firms, such as Citigroup, the Act was repealed under the Clinton Administration, ushering in a new era of gross misconduct and financial abuse on an unwitting public and laying the groundwork for the eventual economic crash in 2008.