financetom
Economy
financetom
/
Economy
/
Fed's Cook says households, banks, firms largely in solid financial shape
News World Market Environment Technology Personal Finance Politics Retail Business Economy Cryptocurrency Forex Stocks Market Commodities
Fed's Cook says households, banks, firms largely in solid financial shape
May 8, 2024 11:05 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. households, banks and firms are largely in solid financial shape, with the means at hand to cover debt payments and with strong enough buffers to absorb potential shocks, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said on Wednesday.

Even commercial real estate, which fell in value as workers shifted to home-based offices during the pandemic, poses "sizable but manageable" risks to the group of mostly smaller banks with large concentrations of related loans, Cook said in a review of financial stability prepared for delivery at the Brookings Institution.

The remarks by Cook, who chairs the Fed's committee on financial stability, follows the release in April of the Fed's most recent biannual financial stability report.

Cook noted areas of concern she is watching, including to see whether a rise in consumer auto and credit card delinquency rates represents "a normalization from recent lows" or reflects outsized stress among some households.

Fed supervisors, she said, were also "working closely" with banks that either suffered losses in the book value of some assets as the Fed raised interest rates, or who hold large amounts of loans secured by commercial real estate that may have lost value.

While falling CRE valuations have been cited as a potentially critical risk to the U.S. financial system, as companies allowed workers to shift to home-based offices, Cook said that even if the fate of downtown offices requires some lenders to make "appropriate adjustments" as CRE loans come due, other types of office properties have not been subject to the same price declines.

She did not comment in her prepared remarks on the economy or monetary policy.

Comments
Welcome to financetom comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Related Articles >
Trump says Fed chair Powell should make big rate cut now
Trump says Fed chair Powell should make big rate cut now
Sep 10, 2025
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday reiterated his call for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to cut benchmark interest rates. Just out: No Inflation!!! Too Late must lower the RATE, BIG, right now. Powell is a total disaster, who doesn't have a clue!!!, Trump said in a post on Truth Social. The post follows federal government data that...
Trump says Fed chair Powell should make big rate cut now
Trump says Fed chair Powell should make big rate cut now
Sep 10, 2025
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday reiterated his call for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to cut benchmark interest rates. Just out: No Inflation!!! Too Late must lower the RATE, BIG, right now. Powell is a total disaster, who doesn't have a clue!!!, Trump said in a post on Truth Social. The post follows federal government data that...
Investors wary of Treasury's 30-year bond auction after recent disappointments
Investors wary of Treasury's 30-year bond auction after recent disappointments
Sep 10, 2025
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Investors are cautiously approaching the U.S. Treasury's sale of $22 billion in 30-year bonds on Thursday after an underwhelming auction last month that had some of the weakest demand metrics of 2025, though some believe it could be different this time. The auction size is $3 billion smaller than that in August and could be easier to...
Trump's Fed governor nominee Miran advances toward Senate confirmation vote
Trump's Fed governor nominee Miran advances toward Senate confirmation vote
Sep 10, 2025
(Reuters) - Stephen Miran, a top White House economic adviser, cleared a U.S. Senate hurdle on Wednesday that moves him closer to becoming a Federal Reserve governor, furthering President Donald Trump's effort to exert more direct control over interest rate policy and the central bank's broader role. Members of the Senate Banking Committee voted 13-11 in a party-line vote to...
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.financetom.com All Rights Reserved