Powell on the Spot, Trade Talks, European Slowdown: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Good morning Americas. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get your week started:

• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has some further explaining to do after the central bank’s monetary messages whipsawed financial markets over the last month.
  • The Fed chair will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Washington following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee.
• The U.S. and China will hold a pivotal round of talks this week in an attempt to end their trade war. Here are three scenarios for how it could play out.
  • As the negotiations continue, corporate executives are increasingly nervous about the global economic outlook as they see threats multiplying from China to trade to Brexit.
  • Also, the World Trade Organization is poised to begin an investigation into President Donald Trump’s tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods.
• The U.S. Treasury Department is set to maintain elevated sales of long-term debt to finance the government’s widening budget deficit, with new issuance projected to top $1 trillion for a second-straight year.
• Europe’s economy is giving the optimists little to work with, and this week’s deluge of numbers won’t shift the needle in their favor.
  • Still, while Germany’s economy may be slowing at the start of 2019, but it isn’t cratering, according to analysis by Bloomberg Economics.
• China is feeling the pain though. In case you’re bewildered about the range of stimulus measures the government in Beijing has rolled out recently, here’s a chronological guide.
• Monday’s data offered little respite. The profits of Chinese industrial companies fell for the second straight month as both factory inflation and economic growth slowed.

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