U.S. stocks are currently floating on trading evenly half way through Monday’s trading session. Despite this tepid trading, and some slight declines, stocks are still approaching record highs after a booming session on Friday. One of the leading forces driving stocks this week is monetary policy. The Federal Reserve is set to meet on Tuesday with the EU Central Bank and hold their scheduled central-bank convention on Thursday. Topics to be discussed the convention include the current state and future of the global economy and where interest rates will go in 2020.
Of course, the big elephant in the room is the looming self-imposed Dec 15th deadline to complete a Phase One trade deal with China. If left uncompleted, the U.S. could be looking at a 15% tariff on what amounts to $156 billion worth of Chinese consumer goods. There are rumors President Trump may delay this tariff, but nothing is certain. The tariff coming right before the holidays would surely affect the American consumer, so there is hope a deal can be worked out.
