August Newsletter 2023
“It is the Fed’s job to bring inflation down to our 2 percent goal, and we will do so. We have tightened policy significantly over the past year. Although inflation has moved down from its peak—a welcome development—it remains too high. We are prepared to raise rates further if appropriate, and intend to hold policy at a restrictive level until we are confident that inflation is moving sustainable down toward our objective.”
Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell, August 25, 2023 at the economic policy symposium sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, at Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Higher for longer was the takeaway from Jackson Hole. Six-month Treasury bill rates topped 5.5% early this week.
I have included the Raymond James August 25, 2023, “Weekly Headings: Thoughts of the Week”, by Raymond James’ Larry Adam, Chief Investment Officer, Private Client Group. Please contact me at your convenience if you would like to discuss.
I recently read “The Lost Bank: The Story of Washington Mutual—The Biggest Bank Failure in American History,” written by Kirsten Grind and published June 12, 2012. Washington Mutual (WaMu) collapsed on September 25, 2008, with $307 billion of assets. While the WaMu collapse is still the largest American bank failure, numbers two, three, and four (respectively First Republic Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank) all took place in 2023. WaMu was a thrift bank, or a savings and loan, that was headquartered in Seattle Wahington and Grind begins her book with an interesting background of the Seattle-based thrift. WaMu undertook an aggressive growth strategy executed by longtime CEO Kerry Killinger in the 1990s and 2000s. Killinger’s acquisitions and an increasing reliance on option ARM mortgages and other exotic high-risk products demanded by Wall Street’s secondary securitization market resulted in the FDIC pulling the plug on the thrift during the 2008 financial crisis. Compelling read.
Thanks for reading and please contact me with any questions or comments.
Regards,
Frank R. Hampton
Financial Advisor
