Washington

José Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, breaks down the FOMC decision and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference.

Federal Reserve Gov. Stephen Miran said it is too early to judge how U.S. involvement in the war with Iran will affect inflation and monetary policy.

While it's unclear how long the war in the Middle East will drag on, once President Donald Trump announces an end to the war, things could change "on a dime," as happened with the tariff-induced volatility in April 2025, said Peter Block, managing director of credit strategy at Ramirez.

"Looking at where oil was and the potential for disruption, and this being tax season and issuers having to pull deals, there's no reason why yields wouldn't have been higher," said Matt Fabian, president of Municipal Market Analytics.

Some states and local governments "went on spending sprees" with pandemic funds and "got ratings upgrades that didn't have a lot to do with fiscal management," said an investor.

"Everyone that is in this industry relies on our technology," CEO Mark Kim said Thursday at a BDA conference in Chicago.

The MINT Act, which would enable Federal Home Loan Bank members to issue tax exempt bonds is working its way through committees in both House and Senate.

The MSRB should "eliminate all location-based concepts of supervision," SIFMA's Leslie Norwood said in a March 16 comment letter.

"A slightly less hawkish decision than had been anticipated," said Art Hogan, B. Riley Wealth chief market strategist.

There is a lot of money out there, and investors seem comfortable putting it to work.