Don’t Skip!

by James Rickards Daily Reckoning

In a leak to The Wall Street Journal earlier this month, the Federal Reserve no doubt believed they were adding clarity to the market situation. But in true Fed tradition, all they did was add confusion that will trouble markets for months to come, if not longer.

Let’s untangle the Fed’s latest web of miscommunication…

The leak appeared on May 31, under the byline of Nick Timiraos. He’s a good reporter, and he’s also the Fed’s designated leakmeister. This is the no-drama Fed. They want markets to know in advance what they’re doing so there are no shocks.

The Fed usually imposes a two-week blackout period on public comments by Fed officials regarding interest rate policy. So a May 31 leak was right on time. The substance of the leak was that the Fed would not raise interest rates at the June 14 FOMC meeting.