- Black Friday to Avoid Red Ink, While Greenback Gets the Blues
- Wednesday's Economic News Crunch Could Tilt Markets
- Tuesday's Heavy Dose of Data to Dictate 'Risk' Behavior
- Thanksgiving Week Stuffed With Economic News
- Double-Dip Jitters Cast Pall on Stocks; Techs to Weaken
- Gold Rush to Prevail on Demand, Low Rates, Weak Dollar
- Citi Strategist Bumps Target
- Rally's Low Volume Prompts Question: Whither Buyers?
- Stocks May Rise Further after Fed Waves on 'Risk Trade'
- Week Ahead: Investors Go for Quality, Assess Recovery
RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- The Executive Job Search
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- Judge Erases Couple's $525,000 Mortgage Payment
- Salvation Army's Kettles Now Credit Card-Ready
- US Mint to Suspend American Eagle Gold 1-Ounce Coins
- Activision Prepares to Double Dip on ‘Modern Warfare 2’
- Topless Business Is Taking Off
- US Plans to Reduce Emissions By 17% Within Next Ten Years
- Black Friday: Can Banks Tap the Frenzy, Too?
- 4 Thanksgiving Week Buys For Your Portfolio: Market Pros
- There's a 'Great Chance' For a Double-Dip Recession: Strategist
- Revenge of the Gangsta Nerds
- Will TCU See The "Flutie Effect?"
- Retail Earnings and Sales to Improve in Q4: Analyst
- Consumers Catching the Holiday Spirit
- It's Beginning To Look A Lot More Riskless
- Crescenzi: Claims Level Suggests End to Job Losses
- Hedge Funds Take Early Lead in Warren Buffett's 'Big Bet'
- Bankruptcies Jump, Hitting Highest Level in Four Years
- AIG, Ex-CEO Greenberg Reach Pact to Settle Disputes
- Bank of America CEO Search May Extend Into 2010
- Steepest Black Friday Discounts, Revealed
- 'Cancer of Fraud' Permeates Health Care System: Critics
- US Mint to Suspend American Eagle Gold 1-Ounce Coins
- Judge Erases Couple's $525,000 Mortgage Payment
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- For Many in US, It Will Be a Scaled-Down Holiday Season
Market Insider
Text Size 
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke threw his support behind the dollar and even acknowledged some ownership of the greenback. This is important because the Fed traditionally does not talk about the dollar, leaving that task strictly to Treasury.
But it's not really that odd considering it's been the Fed's rate cutting that some traders say is in part to blame for dollar weakness, and the resulting rise in commodities prices and inflation.
In remarks to the International Monetary Conference, he said its weakness has contributed to the "unwelcome rise in import prices and consumer price inflation." Sound familiar?
He also signaled that the Fed's current rate stance is the right one. Those comments simply confirmed the market's current view.
Interestingly, he said the Fed is "attentive to the implications of changes in the value of the dollar for inflation and inflation expectations and will continue to formulate policy to guard against risks to both parts of our dual mandate, including the risk of an erosion in longer-term inflation expectations." He also said the Fed is continuing to carefully monitor developments in currency markets along with colleagues at the Treasury.
Some traders say Bernanke's comments coincide with what appears to already be an upswing in the currency. Even with the volatile trading in stocks and bonds today, the dollar has held onto its early morning move higher.
But whether that sticks has yet to be seen.
Boris Schlossberg, senior currency strategist at DailyFx.com, said Bernanke' s comments brought on a "sentiment burst," driving the dollar higher today. But he said whether this move higher lasts will depend in part on Friday's jobs report.
"The question is will he be able to maintain a stationary monetary policy if the labor situation deteriorates any further," Schlossberg said.
"This is really what the Fed wants to do, which is to keep rates at this level, because they are feeling tremendous amounts of inflationary pressure," he said.
Miller Tabak's Tony Crescenzi told me yesterday that the one surprise in Bernanke's speech today could be a remark that would strengthen the dollar. Well, he was right. Today, he wrote that Bernanke's comments are as strong as he could give because of the U.S. policy that only the Treasury Secretary speaks on the dollar. He said Bernanke's comments are a follow up to the communiqué delivered after the April 11 G7 meeting.
"The depth to which Bernanke discussed the dollar is extraordinary for a Fed chairman and the use of the expression "we are attentive" was a direct salvo at speculators in the foreign exchange market. Moreover, in saying that the Fed would "formulate policy to guard against risks," and emphasizing "the risk of an erosion in longer-term inflation expectations," Bernanke put additional backbone behind his defense of the dollar," Crescenzi wrote. (Check out his guest blog on CNBC.com)
Questions? Comments?
- For nearly three decades, these on-call experts have been dishing advice on how to – and not to – cook turkey.
- Eric Schmidt pledges to create a virtual copy of the Iraq National Museum at Google’s expense.
- Bill Griffeth is taking a leave of absence from CNBC and Power Lunch for a year. Here's a message from Bill.
- More shoppers than ever plan to comparison-shop this season. Who will benefit?
- It may be the most unusual guide to business you'll read.
- How can you get out of debt and back on the road to recovery? Follow these ten steps.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes