Kevin Hassett spent years building a reputation as an even-keeled economist and happy warrior for Republican causes. Now that he’s a front-runner to take Jerome Powell’s job atop the Federal Reserve, some of his former allies are on edge.

As a top economic adviser to President Donald Trump, Hassett has accused Fed officials of “putting politics ahead of their mandate.” He has criticized the central bank for being “late to the game” in cutting interest rates, and suggested that cost overruns on a Fed headquarters reconstruction could be grounds for removing Chair Jerome Powell. And he has insinuated that there’s been a “partisan pattern” to government reporting of key jobs data that influences Fed decisions. (POLITICO – Continue Reading)

President Donald Trump floated the idea Monday of companies no longer providing earnings report on a quarterly basis and switching to semiannual instead.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said the idea is “subject to SEC approval” and would “save money, and allow managers to focus on properly running their companies.”

“Did you ever hear the statement that, ‘China has a 50 to 100 year view on management of a company, whereas we run our companies on a quarterly basis??? Not good!!!’” Trump said.

The wisdom of quarterly reports has come under question before. In a 2018 op-ed piece for The Wall Street Journal, Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon advocated doing away with quarterly guidance, though not earnings reports. (CNBC – Continue Reading)

The U.S. government’s recent equity investment in Intel Corp. signals an escalation of U.S. industrial policy, potentially creating wide-ranging unintended inefficiencies for the global semiconductor industry although unlikely to result in broad negative credit implications for chip makers, says Fitch Ratings. If legally upheld, the transaction may distort capital investments in the U.S. by foundries, including those by Intel and current foundry leader, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), and incentivize duplicative supply chains for fabless chip makers.

(Continue Reading - Fitch)

The Federal Reserve’s widely expected interest rate cut this week will increase risks for stocks, bonds and the dollar if it’s perceived to be driven by political pressure and doesn’t align with the central bank’s forecasts for the economy, according to David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.

Wall Street bond and stock investors, who have been cheering over the Fed’s expected resumption of interest rate cuts after a nine month pause, should instead take a cautious stance and look to diversify after the recent rally, Kelly wrote in a note Monday.

(Continue Reading - BBG)