US Fed Optimistic About Economy in 2015

The Federal Reserve seems pretty pleased with how the U.S. economy is doing. Many Fed members think it could get even better in 2015.
The reason? Cheap gas.

According to the minutes, “the real economy may end up showing more momentum than anticipated” this year.

A few Fed members boldly predicted a “quite large” boost to American spending because of lower energy prices.

Stocks, which were broadly higher before the minutes came out, remained positive with the Dow up around 200 points. The yield on the benchmark 10-Year Treasury bond, which has recently fallen below 2%, remained just under that level.

The minutes showed that most central bankers were not terribly concerned about how plunging oil prices would hurt the global economy.

Fed chair Janet Yellen admitted as much during her press conference after the December meeting when she said lower oil prices are “something that’s certainly good for families, for households. It’s putting more money in their pockets.” She added that “it’s like a tax cut that boosts their spending power.”

via CNN

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency
trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza