Wall Street’s week ahead: The Fed, Trump and bitcoin

The central bank uses its benchmark funds rate to determine the level of rates you pay for all kinds of adjustable-rate debt like credit cards, loans and mortgages. Those rates won't be changing as a result of the Fed's actions this month.
Here's what else to look for out of the meeting, in case you're a Fed junkie: Oficials will give their revised economic projections, which the market will be watching closely, particularly as it pertains to inflation. Also, there will likely be an announcement that the Fed is going to start unwinding its $4.5 trillion balance sheet, which is a portfolio of bonds the central bank accumulated during its efforts to stimulate the economy.

President Donald Trump last week threw pretty much everyone for a major loop with news that he had reached an agreement with the Democratic leadership on spending. Markets have been rising all year at least in part on hopes that the White House would be able to push through a tax-reform bill that would bring the U.S. corporate rate down from the highest in the world.
Progress on that front could well give the bull market another boost. A step backwards could bring around that long-awaited correction many investors have been waiting for all year. Amid it all, Republicans have promised they will deliver a spending plan by the end of September.

Not that long ago, bitcoin was a shadowy proposition that existed at the dark edges of legitimacy, understood only by tech geeks and doomsday planners. That's changing, fast. The cryptocurrency has seen its price soar this year, starting 2017 around $800 and zooming to near $5,000 as September dawned.

But bitcoin had a bad week last week. China announced it was clamping down on fraud, and the price tumbled so far that bitcoin lost about one-quarter of its value. Of course, we've seen ripsaw moves before for this asset. Respected strategist Tom Lee at Fundstrat thinks the near-term target is around $6,000, with a long-term move to $25,000 still on target.
Bitcoin's legitimacy can be disputed, but its emergence as a formidable asset cannot.

Source: Bloomberg Pro Terminal
Trader I. Ivanov

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