Economy

The Fed vs Inflation  

The US central bank leaves the key interest rate unchanged  

 

As expected, the Federal Reserve leaves the US key interest rate unchanged in the range of 5.25-5.50 percent.  

 

The American central bank scraps an earlier phrase about further monetary policy tightening, but at the same time emphasizes that it is not yet ready to start lowering interest rates.  

 

"The committee does not expect that it will be appropriate to lower the target interval until it is more convinced that inflation is moving towards the two percent target in a sustainable way". 

 

During the ensuing question and answer session, Chairman Jerome Powell emphasized that he does not see a cut in March as likely.  

 

The decline on Wall Street was reinforced after the announcement.  

 

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Tesla's future  

Musk disses Delaware after billions - wants to Texas  

 

Elon Musk will immediately call a shareholder meeting to move the company's formal listing from the state of Delaware to Texas. It is clear since he held a poll on the matter at X - and 87 percent of the respondents voted yes. 

 

"The vote of the people is unequivocal in favor of Texas!" writes Musk. 

 

Forbes notes that Musk has on several occasions chosen to ask his followers on X about important business decisions. Earlier this week, a Delaware judge invalidated Musk's 2018 compensation package worth $56 billion. 

 

In short, the package stipulated that Musk will be awarded Tesla shares when certain goals are met, which means that the new ruling risks costing him large sums of money. 

  

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Swedish inflation  

The Riksbank opens for lower interest rates before the summer  

 

As expected, the Riksbank leaves the policy rate unchanged at 4.0 percent. The management writes that the interest rate increases have contributed to the previously high price pressure falling, and that there is now less risk of inflation getting stuck at high levels.  

 

"The policy rate can therefore probably be lowered earlier than was indicated in the forecast in November. If the outlook for inflation continues to be favorable, it is not out of the question that the policy rate could be lowered in the first half of this year."  

 

At the same time, the Riksbank warns that there is a risk of a setback and emphasizes that monetary policy needs to be adjusted with caution.  

 

Among the clouds of worry is the risk of new supply disruptions as a result of geopolitical tensions, that companies' pricing behavior has not yet normalized or that the krona weakens significantly.

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