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The latest round of debt-ceiling talks between the President and House Speaker will begin tonight at 5:30 PM EDT. While both sides have presented optimism on passing legislation that would temporarily suspend, or raise the debt limit ceiling, the Democrats and Republicans are still far apart.
Comments by the House Speaker today emphatically stated that "nothing is agreed to and there are still a lot of obstacles for a deal." This after a phone call between the president aboard Air Force One and McCarthy Sunday evening was "productive" according to McCarthy. President Biden held a news conference in Hiroshima where he criticized the legislation proposed by the house saying that he could not promise fellow world leaders that the United States would not default.
On Sunday President Biden said that he believes he has the authority to invoke the 14th amendment as a potential solution if the negotiations continue to result in a stalemate. However, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen believes that the 14th Amendment is not a viable option as it cannot "be used appropriately in these circumstances, given the legal uncertainty surrounding it and given the tight deadline in which we find ourselves".
In an interview on Sunday with NBC Janet Yellen again had a strong warning about what was at stake if the two sides aren't able to reach a resolution and raise or suspend the debt ceiling.
"I indicated in my last letter to Congress that we expect to be unable to pay all of our bills in early June and possibly as soon as June 1. And I will continue to update Congress, but I certainly haven't changed my assessment. So I think that that's a hard deadline,"
According to a Moody's Analytics report, a default could lead to more than 7 million Americans out of work and the loss of $10 trillion in individual household wealth.
However, gold traded lower today temporarily disregarding the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations instead focused on statements made by Federal Reserve officials going against the grain of Powell's speech last week.
In an interview with CNBC, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkar indicated that interest rates could go above 6% before the Federal Reserve reaches its 2% inflation target. This was an agreement with St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said that there might be a need to go higher on the policy rate.
As of 5:20 PM EDT, gold futures basis most active June contract is trading under pressure, down $7.90 and fixed at $1973.70. With the meeting between the president and the House Speaker to begin in about 10 minutes, we could see gold trade with extreme volatility this evening.
By
Gary Wagner
Contributing to kitco.com
