James Bullard is not bullish and the dollar suffers. He is usually positive and optimistic and even gave us a clue towards the recent strong Non-Farm Payrolls. He remains such on the US economy but not so on the euro-zone and this is certainly a factor. Bullard is talking to Bloomberg TV.
EUR/USD and GBP/USD are ticking higher. This is also helping stocks.
Bullard sees the situation in the euro-zone as “serious†and that this could invoke the “data dependent†clause in the FOMC Statement.
He does see the US economy as strong and as enjoying lower interest rates and lower oil prices. However, he sees risks to inflation and mentions the 5 year / 5 year forward.
The Fed should “guard†against risks to the inflation target. A “simple step†would be to take a pause on the taper.
Earlier, US data was good, with the best jobless claims in 14 years.
