Have you been going through various financial news outlets in recent days ? If so, you must have noticed a constant reference to one Jackson Hole as a major signal for the next direction of the international financial markets. I initially dismissed the name as something irrelevant, but I eventually succumbed to the persistent mention and did a little research.
It turned out that Jackson Hole is not even a person ,lol, it is actually a vacation destination in Wyoming, USA. However, this destination has been the venue for an annual symposium for discussing pressing economic issues across the globe since 1978. The event is usually attended by Central Bankers, Finance Ministers, Academics and other market participants.
It is expected that conversations in the year’s symposium will give a clear direction on what to expect in the rest of year. Specifically, as regards the intentions of the US Federal Reserve Bank about inflation management. People are particular interested in what Feds Chairman , Jerome Powell has to say on inflation and interest rates.
We will recall that his comments in the August 2021 edition did not age well, when Powell said inflation was transitory. i.e. it is temporary and will soon disappear.. The market was happy with him, Stocks and Bitcoins all ballooned in price. The was at a time that the US annual inflation was 5.39%. It was not until December 2021 that the authorities finally admitted that inflation was indeed anchored and not transitory. By that that time it has risen to 6.8%, thereby tougher actions to contain.
Well, we will wait till tomorrow to hear what Mr. Powell has to say this time around. However, we must appreciate that comments or actions in faraway lands like the US and Ukraine have always found a way to impact us here in Naija, when we thought we are just minding our business and not looking for anybody’s trouble.
The first causality is usually the Naira exchange rate, which is bad enough already. This is usually followed by higher Inflation rate, as more things become expensive. Before it start spilling to stock price, interest rate increase loss of jobs etc. That is why we track this seemingly irrelevant events.
This will be all for now, we expect the symposium to throw up further issues of concern. Join us here on WhatsApp for further discussions on this matter and other money related issues.