By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and JOSH BOAK WASHINGTON (AP) For the second time in two days, President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would like to appoint Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to chair the Federal Reserve. Yet Bessent keeps saying he doesn’t want the job, Trump added, in comments to the U. S.-Saudi Investment Forum. “We’re thinking about him for the Fed, but he wants no part of it, he likes being secretary of the Treasury,” Trump said. “I think we’ll leave him so let’s cross your name off right, officially, right?” Trump has been sharply critical of the current Fed chair, Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May, for not cutting interest rates quickly enough. Trump’s pick as a replacement will almost certainly push for rapid interest rate cuts and likely institute wide-ranging changes in how the Fed operates. Bessent earlier this year published extensive criticisms of the Fed’s groundbreaking efforts to shore up financial markets and the economy after the 2008-2009 Great Recession and during the pandemic. Bessent is heading up the Trump administration’s search for a new Fed chair. Yet despite his protestations, he is also widely seen as a leading potential replacement for Powell. “He’s a top-tier candidate right now,” Stephen Moore, a senior economic adviser to Trump in his first term, said. Trump “wants to shake things up, so I think he wants an outsider.” Two of the five candidates Bessent has named are current Fed officials: Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman. The other three would fit the outsider criteria: Kevin Hassett, currently a top White House economic official; Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor who has been highly critical of the Fed; and Rick Rieder, a senior managing director at asset manager BlackRock. Late Tuesday, in an interview By mid-December, “the president will meet the final three candidates and hopefully have an answer before Christmas,” Bessent said. Associated Press Writer Fatima Hussein contributed to this report.
https://www.redbluffdailynews.com/2025/11/19/federal-reserve-bessent/
Tag: scott bessent
Bessent: High U.S. interest rates may have caused housing recession
Parts of the U.S. economy, particularly housing, may already be in recession because of high interest rates, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday. He repeated his call for the Federal Reserve to accelerate rate cuts.
“I think that we are in good shape, but I think that there are sectors of the economy that are in recession,” Bessent said on CNN’s “State of the Union” program. “And the Fed has caused a lot of distributional problems with their policies.”
Bessent acknowledged that although the overall U.S. economy remains solid, high mortgage rates continue to hinder the real estate market. Housing, he explained, is effectively in a recession that is hitting low-end consumers the hardest because they tend to have debts rather than assets.
Pending home sales in the United States were flat in September, according to the National Association of Realtors. The treasury secretary characterized the overall economic environment as being in a transition period.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell last week signaled that the central bank may not cut rates further at its December meeting. This stance prompted sharp criticism from Bessent and other officials from the Trump administration.
Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran, who is on leave from his post as chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said in an interview with the New York Times published on Saturday that the Fed risks inducing a recession if it does not swiftly lower interest rates.
Miran, who is due to return to his White House job in January, was one of two central bank governors who dissented from last week’s Fed decision to lower interest rates by 25 basis points, instead advocating for a 50 basis points cut (0.5 percentage points).
“If you keep policy this tight for a long period of time, then you run the risk that monetary policy itself is inducing a recession,” Miran said in the interview, conducted on Friday. “I don’t see a reason to run that risk if I’m not concerned about inflation on the upside.”
Bessent echoed this view, noting that the Trump administration’s cuts in government spending have helped lower the deficit-to-gross-domestic-product ratio to 5.9% from 6.4%, which in turn should help reduce inflation.
The Federal Reserve can also assist by continuing to bring down interest rates, he added.
“If we are contracting spending, then I would think inflation would be dropping. If inflation is dropping, then the Fed should be cutting rates,” Bessent said.
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2025/11/02/breaking-news/bessent-high-u-s-interest-rates-may-have-caused-housing-recession/
Gold hits new highs as safe-haven buying and Fed outlook fuels momentum
**Gold (XAU/USD) Extends Rally to Fifth Day, Hits New Record Highs Amid Global Uncertainties**
Gold continues its impressive uptrend for the fifth consecutive day, scaling new record highs during the Asian session on Thursday. The persistent rise in gold prices reflects mounting global anxieties among investors, who remain increasingly concerned about economic risks associated with the US government shutdown, heightened US-China trade tensions, and escalating geopolitical conflicts. These factors continue to drive capital flows towards the traditional safe-haven asset—bullion.
Adding to gold’s appeal are dovish expectations for the US Federal Reserve (Fed). Market participants appear to have nearly fully priced in the possibility of two additional rate cuts by the Fed this year, bolstering demand for the non-yielding yellow metal. This outlook weighs on the US Dollar (USD), which has slipped to a more than one-week low, further strengthening the case for gold’s near-term appreciation.
Despite extremely overbought conditions visible on short-term charts, gold bulls remain undeterred. This resilience solidifies a positive near-term outlook for the commodity ahead of upcoming speeches from influential Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members.
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### Market Movers: Gold Supported by Flight to Safety, Dovish Fed, and Weaker USD
The partial US federal government shutdown has now stretched into its third week, with no resolution in sight. On Wednesday, a Republican-backed stopgap funding bill failed for the ninth time in the Senate, intensifying concerns about the economic fallout from a prolonged shutdown. A Treasury official estimated that the shutdown could cost the US economy $15 billion per week in lost output, revising an earlier statement from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Meanwhile, US-China trade tensions escalated further as both countries imposed reciprocal port fees this week. President Donald Trump also indicated he was considering ending the cooking oil trade with China in retaliation for China’s refusal to purchase American soybeans. Trump described the situation as an all-out trade war between the two nations.
On the other hand, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent proposed a potential pause on import duties for Chinese goods beyond three months if China halts its planned export controls on rare-earth elements—offering a glimmer of hope for easing tensions.
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### Geopolitical Concerns and Fed Dovishness Support Gold
Geopolitically, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Russia about possible consequences should the Ukraine conflict continue unabated. Adding to the tensions, President Trump mentioned the possibility of supplying Ukraine with longer-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.
In a dovish signal on Tuesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell highlighted an ongoing sluggish labor market, characterized by low hiring and firing activity through September. This reaffirmed market expectations for two 25 basis point rate cuts in the Fed’s October and December meetings.
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### USD Under Pressure as Gold Extends Gains
The US Dollar has continued its downtrend for the third straight day, reaching its lowest level in over a week during Thursday’s Asian session. This decline supports gold’s record-breaking rally and suggests further upside potential for the yellow metal in the near term.
With no major economic releases on the immediate horizon, all eyes will be on speeches from key FOMC members for clues on upcoming rate adjustments. These communications are expected to play a crucial role in shaping USD demand and providing momentum to gold prices.
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### Technical Outlook: Gold Bulls Defy Overbought Signals
The XAU/USD pair has steadily trended higher along an upward-sloping trend line over the past month. Notably, gold’s recent sustained break and hold above the $4,200 psychological level has acted as a fresh catalyst for bullish momentum.
However, an extremely overbought daily Relative Strength Index (RSI) calls for caution before traders consider further long positions. Any corrective pullback could attract buyers near the $4,200 mark, potentially limiting downside pressure toward the $4,180-$4,175 support zone.
If gold breaks convincingly below this level, technical selling may intensify, driving prices toward the intermediate support area around $4,135 en route to the $4,100 level. The next critical support zone lies near $4,060-$4,055. A decisive break below this could signal that the XAU/USD pair has reached a near-term peak.
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**In summary, gold’s uptrend remains robust, supported by an intricate mix of economic uncertainties, dovish Fed expectations, and a weakening US dollar. Traders should monitor key support levels closely while staying attuned to upcoming FOMC remarks, which will likely influence the metals market direction in the short term.**
https://bitcoinethereumnews.com/finance/gold-hits-new-highs-as-safe-haven-buying-and-fed-outlook-fuels-momentum/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gold-hits-new-highs-as-safe-haven-buying-and-fed-outlook-fuels-momentum