The Eyes of Congress Are Upon You
Here’s What the Markets Are Going to Focus on Today:
House Budget
FISCAL 2011 BUDGET: TREASURY DEPARTMENT
10 a.m. Feb. 24, 210 Cannon Bldg.
Full Committee Hearing
House Budget Committee (Chairman Spratt, D-S.C.) will hold a hearing on the president’s proposed fiscal 2011 budget for the Treasury Department.
Witnesses Scheduled: Timothy F. Geithner, secretary of the Treasury
House Financial Services
HUMPHREY-HAWKINS MONETARY POLICY REPORT
10 a.m. Feb. 24, 2128 Rayburn Bldg.
House Financial Services Committee (Chairman Frank, D-Mass.) will hold a hearing on the Humphrey-Hawkins Semiannual Monetary Policy Report, current economic conditions, and the outlook for the financial sector and the broader economy.
Witnesses Scheduled: Ben S. Bernanke – chairman, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System
House Oversight & Government Reform
TOYOTA RECALL
11 a.m. Feb. 24, 2154 Rayburn Bldg.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (Chairman Towns, D-N.Y.) will hold a hearing titled “Toyota Gas Pedals: Is the Public At Risk?”
Panel: Ray LaHood, secretary of Transportation; David Strickland, administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Panel: Akio Toyoda, president and CEO, Toyota Motor Corp.; Yoshimi Inaba, president and CEO, Toyota Motor North America Inc.
Panel: Joan Claybrook, president emeritus, Public Citizen, and former administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Clarence M. Ditlow, executive director, Center for Auto Safety; Fe Niosco Lastrella, lost family members in a car accident involving a Toyota vehicle; Kevin Haggerty, experienced sudden unintended acceleration in a Toyota vehicle
The budget story is a negative for the markets and Geithner will be grilled over the assumptions, projections, and exclusions to the 2011 Obama blueprint for spending. The monetary policy report will be mixed for the markets as Bernanke walks the fine line of talking optimistic and supporting his rate hike all the while justifying the verbal barrage by Fed members saying the rate hike was not going to mean additional rate hikes soon. Finally, the Toyota situation is just a negative, but it may be past its sell date for impact.
Summing it up, the Bernanke testimony will outweigh Geithner/Toyoda (CEO). Given the big drop in consumer confidence yesterday and the lack of jobs, the members of the US House will be all over Bernake and it should be confrontational with Kanjorski, Waters, and Paul all getting the shots in on the chairman.
Tags: Bernanke, congress, Geithner, monetary policy, Obama budget, Toyota