Bloomberg Podcasts
@bloombergpodcasts·503K subscribers·32.4K videos
Powell Caught in 'Difficult Position' Between Markets, Trump: Stevenson
Posted
April 17, 2025
Views
1,147
Likes
15
Comments
3
Engagement
April 17, 2025
1,147
15
3
1.57%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
10:41Now PlayingBetsey Stevenson, professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan, says Fed Chair Jerome Powell is in a difficult position between calming markets and navigating the risk of retribution from President Trump.
US bonds have been whipsawed this month as President Donald Trump’s move to impose global tariffs raised threats to the economy, undermining Treasuries’ reputation as the world’s safest asset. Investors will be looking to Powell’s speech later Wednesday for clues on the Fed’s ability “to deal with market turmoil,” as well as guidance on interest rates, according to Hauke Siemssen, a strategist at Commerzbank AG.
In addition, US retail sales rose substantially in March on a jump in car purchases and other goods such as electronics, suggesting consumers were scrambling to get ahead of tariffs. The Treasury will seek a repeat of the healthy demand seen for last week’s bond sales with a $13 billion offering of 20-year debt. That tenor has struggled to find a consistent buyer base since it was relaunched about five years ago.
In a supportive move Tuesday, US officials said a possible rule change is under discussion that could lower trading costs for banks and reduce risks of a freeze-up of trading in the $29 trillion Treasuries market.
That step would be a relief for bank desks, which came under extreme pressure last week to cope with the flood of bond sales. The turmoil was so acute that US 30-year bonds briefly cheapened against their counterparts in the swaps market by as much as one full percentage-point for the first time on record.
--------
Watch Bloomberg Radio LIVE on YouTube
Weekdays 7am-6pm ET
Follow us on X
Subscribe to our Podcasts:
Bloomberg Daybreak
Bloomberg Surveillance
Bloomberg Intelligence
Balance of Power
Bloomberg Businessweek
Listen on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app:
Apple CarPlay
Android Auto
Visit our YouTube channels:
Bloomberg Podcasts
Bloomberg Television
Bloomberg Originals
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.
