The Federal Open Market Committee, the policy-making arm of the Federal Reserve, is convening today and will make statement including policy changes, if any, tomorrow afternoon. After the last meeting in August, the Fed announced that economic activity was leveling out. With recent improvements in some economic data points, the Street is probably expecting talk of recovery tomorrow. If the Fed’s outlook isn’t optimistic enough, it could be seen as a disappointment and put downward pressure on the market. In any event, the Fed is expected to make no changes to interest rates and to continue its program of buying back $300 billion worth of Treasuries, now nearly complete. Read more...

The latest employment report from the Department of Labor was a mixed bag of news. While the number of initial job loss claims last week declined by 4,000 from the preceding week, at 570,000, it was 10,000 more than expected. The number of people collecting unemployment insurance also rose by 92,000 and now totals more than 6.2 million. The unemployment rate crept closer to double digits to 9.7 percent in August after it had remained essentially unchanged in June and July. There are now 14.9 unemployed Americans, and that figure doesn’t include the more than 9 million people working part time involuntarily or the discouraged people who have given up job hunting. Although recent economic data have suggested slight improvement, the job market still remains bleak, reiterating the likelihood that Americans will not open their wallets wide enough to facilitate a smooth and speedy economic rebound.

Meanwhile, gold continues its impressive run. It eclipsed the $1,000 mark earlier today and has rallied some 5 percent since the start of last week. Investors are beginning to question whether the market, up some 50 percent since its March low has much upside left. Helping the bearish case is unusually low trading volume, as well as the last week’s performance. The U.S. dollar, once synonymous with safety, is no longer the safe haven as a direct result of the unprecedented amount of national debt and our loose monetary policies.Read more...

Yesterday was an interesting day in the markets. The equity markets ended essentially flat after opening with gains on the Fed Chairman and European Central Bank President’s remarks that the world economy is pulling out of the recession.  
 

“Banks in $38.5 Billion Overdrafts Windfall.” That headline sounds like something out of The Onion, the satirical “fake” newspaper, but it was a front-page headline in yesterday’s Financial Times. The source of that windfall: overdraft fees. The penalties banks charged for overdrafts accounted for more than 75 percent of bank service fees charged to customers in 2008.Read more...