The latest and greatest from Fed Chair Powell as the Fed’s March Open Markets Committee meeting wrapped yesterday, including a markets-pleasing assurance that better-than-expected economic growth wasn’t enough to push the central bank to deviate from its plans to keep interest rates at “near-zero for years to come”—perhaps through 2024. Powell also sought to ease inflation concerns by noting estimates that suggested the headline inflation index could “temporarily” hit as high as 2.4% before “easing to 2.1 percent by the end of 2023, at the same time as unemployment falls further and more quickly” - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg
More on the steady-as-she-goes approach from the Fed here - NYTimes
Markets balanced that good news with growing concerns that supply chain issues around the globe (prompted by the pandemic and furthered by the deep freeze that interrupted Texas petrochemical production) are hampering manufacturing in a wide array of fields—“from cars and clothing to home siding and medical needle containers” - WSJ
American taxpayers will have a bit more breathing room thanks to the IRS’s Wednesday announcement that it will extend the 2020 filing season to May 17 in an effort to “ease the burden on filers dealing with the economic upheaval caused by the coronavirus” - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and Law360
The House plumbed the depths of the GameStop frenzy with a second Financial Services Committee hearing yesterday, this time focusing largely on “payment-for-order-flow” issues that enabled the recent surges in retail trading - NYTimes and Bloomberg
Boeing has somehow found itself in yet more regulatory trouble that threatens its bottom line, with the news this week that the FAA is stripping the company of its “authority to inspect and sign off on several newly produced 787 Dreamliners” over concerns with Boeing’s “shimming issues.” [And yes, those would be the shims the planemaker uses to “fill the small gaps where the aircraft sections are joined together”] - WSJ
Katherine Tai is officially the United States’ new trade representative following a unanimous 98-0 vote in the Senate this week - TheHill and CNBC
Disney will reopen its California theme parks on April 30th after a year without visitors, though for now, only California residents may attend - WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch
A collection of the Times’ top recipes based on Insta love? We’ll take it, along with the implied promise that they should at least look good - NYTimes
Stay safe,
MDR
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