I look for them to cut rates at least once or twice more this year.
If the unemployment rate is weak, look for the Fed to cut interest rates by a full 50 basis points (half a percentage point).
January could prove to be a very difficult month for bonds, just as December was. Long-term interest rates rose anywhere from 35 to 40 basis points last month, and we're obviously starting January on a very weak -- if not suspect -- note.
There is a common theme that economic fortunes look brighter in Japan and continental Europe than they do in the U.S., ... Even though higher rates should help the currency, they haven't because most people are seeing that as the Fed's move to slow the economy and reduce growth.
It shows that the upturn in interest rates is indeed beginning to exert an influence on this rate-sensitive sector of the economy.