A watershed legal battle over the White House’s attempt to oust a sitting Federal Reserve governor has only just begun, but if President Trump gets his way, it could leave him with much more latitude to steer the central bank’s decisions on interest rates and its oversight of Wall Street. Mr. Trump is already relishing…
The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged for a third meeting in a row on Wednesday, as officials stuck to a wait-and-see approach amid heightened uncertainty about how significantly President Trump’s tariffs will raise inflation and slow growth. The unanimous decision to stand pat will keep interest rates at 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent. Rates…
Follow live updates on the Trump administration. The British government ramped up actions to help protect businesses and households from some of the economic tumult created by President Trump’s decision to raise tariffs and upend the norms of global trade. The government said on Sunday it would suspend tariffs on 89 products for about two…
There are not many certainties in the world of money, but this traditionally has been one of them: When life turns scary, people take refuge in American government bonds. Investors buy U.S. Treasuries on the assumption that, come what may — financial panic, war, natural disaster — the federal government will endure and stand by…
Britain has watched President Trump’s tariffs with a mix of shock, fascination and queasy recognition. The country, after all, embarked on a similar experiment in economic isolationism when it voted to leave the European Union in 2016. Nearly nine years after the Brexit referendum, it is still reckoning with the costs. The lessons of that…
President Trump didn’t seem to mind as his worldwide tariffs set off stock market sell-offs and wiped out trillions of dollars in wealth. “Be cool,” he told Americans. Then he blinked on Wednesday afternoon in the face of financial turmoil, particularly a rapid rise in government bond yields that could shake the dominant position of…
The bedrock of the financial system trembled on Friday, with government bond yields rising sharply as the chaotic rollout of tariffs shook investors’ faith in the pivotal role played by the United States in the financial system. U.S. government bonds, known as Treasuries because they are issued by the U.S. Treasury, are backed by the…
A sharp sell-off in U.S. government bond markets has sparked fears about the growing fallout from President Trump’s sweeping tariffs and retaliation by China, the European Union and others, raising questions about what is typically seen as the safest corner for investors to take cover during times of turmoil. Yields on 10-year Treasuries — the…
A major Western leader announces an unorthodox economic policy, panicking the financial markets, driving down the country’s currency and fueling a blizzard of warnings about the dire long-term consequences. President Trump did all this with his across-the-board tariffs, announced last week, but before him, there was Liz Truss, Britain’s former prime minister, with her rollout…
Warren E. Buffett, the famed investor known for his enthusiasm for undervalued stocks and businesses, is feeling bullish these days about a traditionally staid investment: Treasury bills. The cash stockpile held by Berkshire Hathaway, his sprawling multinational conglomerate, rose past $334 billion at the end of last year, including $286 billion in short-term Treasuries. The…