H&W in the Media
Rate hikes on hold for rest of the year?
The big guessing game on Wall Street is the number of times the Fed will raise interest rates this year.
Kevin Mahn, president and chief investment officer of Hennion & Walsh Asset Management, tells CNBC’s “Power Lunch” on Tuesday he expects at least 2 hikes this year.
“I currently believe that there will be 2, potentially 3, additional rate hikes of 25 basis points (i.e. 0.25 percent) in 2016 – leaving the Fed Funds rate in the range of 0.75 percent – 1.00 percent by the end of 2016,” Mahn said.
He sees the first rate hike taking place in June, followed by another hike in late summer/early fall.
John Buckingham, chief investment officer of AFAM Capital and editor of The Prudent Speculator, thinks there’s a case to be made for no hikes this year.
“While the latest FOMC ‘Dot-Plot’ released in March suggested that two rate hikes were in the offing over the balance of the year, recent economic data has the market now thinking that there is a 47.4 percent chance of no additional increases,” Buckingham said.