Dollar notches longest run of gains in five years before CPI data

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Dollar notches longest run of gains in five years before CPI data

Fed chief Janet Yellen testifies for a second day in Congress after spurring more gains for the dollar on Tuesday by telling lawmakers that the U.S. central bank would consider raising rates at one of its "upcoming" meetings. For markets that pointed to a hike in either March or May. It also opens the door to the Fed raising the return for holding dollars more than twice before the end of the year, beyond what investors have currently priced into short-term interest rates. "The risks are skewed to a higher print, particularly given the consumer component from yesterday’s strong PPI data." The CME FedWatch indicator puts the chances of a rise in March at just 17 percent, but some market participants say the pricing of market interest rates points to odds of 30 percent or more, rising to more than 50 percent for May. The dollar index, which measures the currency against its six major peers, was last up 0.2 percent at 101.43, its highest since Jan. 20.

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DC statehood supporters to lobby Congress on local autonomy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Advocates for District of Columbia statehood are making their annual pitch to members of Congress.

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The Ambassador Who Came In From the Cold

In February of 2015, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, was going through a rough period. Amid a contentious election in Israel, the Obama administration accused him of conspiring with Republican leaders on Capitol Hill to arrange an invitation for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deliver a controversial speech on Obama’s diplomatic outreach to Iran before both houses of Congress, only 14 days before Israelis were set to go to the polls. Administration officials claimed that Dermer knew for two weeks that then-Speaker of the House John Boehner had invited Netanyahu to give a speech on this issue, yet didn’t share the information with anyone in the administration, leading to a situation in which they learned about it from the media. Democratic members of Congress lined up to boycott Netanyahu’s speech, and the Israeli opposition, capitalizing on the mess to improve its election prospects, blamed Dermer and Netanyahu for damaging the U.S.-Israel relationship.

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