NMMA Chief Brand Officer Puts Spotlight On Recreational Boating As PRWeek Women Of Distinction Honoree

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FEATURED INDUSTRY NEWS NMMA Chief Brand Officer Puts Spotlight On Recreational Boating As PRWeek Women Of Distinction Honoree PRWeek, a leading platform for the global PR, marketing and branding industry, selected National Marine Manufacturers Association SVP of Marketing and Communications and Chief Brand Officer, Ellen Bradley, for its 2024 class of Women of Distinction. The program honors communications pros who according to PRWeek, “set the bar higher” and “as a member of this prestigious group have proven they are up for every challenge and ready to go above and beyond to ensure results exceed business goals and achieve creative excellence”. Read More LEADING ECONOMIC AND POLICY NEWS Federal Reserve Holds Rates Steady, Signals Three Rate Cuts Still Expected This Year The AP reports that following the end of the latest Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday, Fed officials “signaled” they “still expect to cut their key interest rate three times in 2024 despite signs that inflation was surprisingly high at the start of the year. Yet they foresee fewer rate cuts in 2025, and they slightly raised their inflation forecasts.” In addition, the Fed kept its benchmark rate unchanged for a fifth straight meeting.         However, the Washington Post reports “financial markets, analysts, businesses and consumers are eager for a more precise timeline on when the Fed will decide to trim rates. Inflation has eased considerably since soaring to 40-year highs. But price growth is still too fast, and the Fed isn’t ready to declare victory until officials are more certain that inflation is on its way to their 2 percent target.” CNN says Wall Street “is betting that the first rate cut will come in the summer.”         The New York Times reports that at a news conference Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said, “The risks are really two-sided here: We’re in a situation where if we ease too much or too soon, we could see inflation come back. If we ease too late, we could do unnecessary harm to employment.” Reuters reports that inflation reports to start the year “showed price pressures remained ‘elevated,’ in the Fed’s view, but ‘haven’t really changed the overall story, which is that of inflation moving down gradually on a sometimes bumpy road to 2%,’ Powell said in a press conference. But ‘I also don’t think that those readings added to anyone’s confidence’ of a continued decline in inflation, Powell said, comments that put weight on upcoming inflation reports to confirm that price pressures continue to ease.”         The Wall Street Journal says the “projections and Powell’s comments left a clear impression that the central bank ‘no longer believes that a recession is necessary to get inflation down,’ said Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG.”         In an editorial, the Wall Street Journal says Powell “showed no less determination to reach the Fed’s 2% inflation target, though the Fed players did project that core inflation is going to be higher at 2.6% this year than the 2.4% they projected in December. So inflation will be higher than previously expected, but monetary easing will continue as expected. We’ll see how that apparent contradiction holds up in the coming months.” House Struggles To Finalize Spending Package Ahead Of Potential Shutdown The Washington Post reports House legislators “raced Wednesday to finish work on a roughly $1.2 trillion government funding bill before a weekend deadline, as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) touted conservative policy wins to his restive GOP conference in hopes of smoothing the way for passage before a shutdown that would hit at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.” Sources told the Post that “a deal reached this week among Johnson, President Biden and Senate Democrats included Republican priorities such as a ban on funding the U.N. relief agency for Palestinians and increases to spending on security at the U.S.-Mexico border,” yet “the prospect for speedy Senate action looked shaky, which could drag the legislation past the wire.”         The New York Times says officials “had yet to release its details and it was not clear whether Congress would be able to complete action on it in time to avert a brief partial government shutdown over the weekend,” even as “lawmakers in both parties were already touting what they would get out of the legislation.” The Times quotes Johnson as saying, “The final product is something that we were able to achieve a lot of key provisions and wins and a move in the direction that we want, even with our tiny, historically small majority.” Furthermore, despite “months patiently working to build consensus among House Republicans,” the Wall Street Journal says Johnson on Wednesday signaled intent “to move ahead quickly” on the bill, rejecting Republicans’ attempts to delay a vote by 72 hours or introduce another short-term funding measure.         According to Reuters, House Republicans “said they hope to vote on Friday, leaving the Democratic-majority Senate just hours to meet a midnight deadline by passing legislation that is expected to cover about three-fourths of the $1.66 trillion in discretionary government spending for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1.” Nonetheless, the AP, describes how both Republican and Democratic leaders “looked to put a positive light” on the package, which includes a roughly 3% increase in defense spending at $886 billion, “with non-defense spending expected to be relatively flat compared to the prior year.” However, Roll Call says, “Appropriators were scrambling under a tight timeline to finish drafting the measure, which is taking longer than expected due to a last-minute decision to write a full-year Homeland Security bill.”         Additionally, the New York Times examines how lawmakers “are weighing several shortcuts and tricks to avoid a partial government shutdown after midnight on Friday,” since while “a brief shutdown over the weekend would not be as disruptive as one that occurs during the workweek, it could still have repercussions.” Although Senate Majority Leader Schumer said Wednesday that “if Republicans and Democrats keep working together in good faith to fund the government, then I hope we’re just days away from completing the appropriations process,” the Times nonetheless lists “the ways congressional leaders may have to break, bend or otherwise twist the rules to get the legislation done before 12:01 on Saturday morning.”         Meanwhile, The Hill reports Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) “says he will hold up a $1 trillion ‘minibus’ spending package that needs to pass by the end of the day Friday.” Paul explained, “I will hold it up primarily because we’re bankrupt, and it’s a terrible idea to keep spending money at this rate. The spending bills before us will lead to a $1.5 trillion deficit for the year. We’re borrowing about $1 trillion every three months. It’s an alarming pace of accumulation of debt.” However, when “asked if he would delay final Senate passage of the bill past the weekend, which would trigger a partial government shutdown, Paul shrugged and lifted his palms to the air, signaling he hadn’t decided yet how long to delay it.” S&P 500 Tops 5200 For The First Times CNBC reports that “stocks surged on Wednesday and all the major averages hit all-time closing highs after the Federal Reserve held rates steady and kept plans to cut three times before the end of the year intact.” The Dow Jones Industrial Average “rallied 401.37 points, or 1.03%, to finish at 39,512.13.” The S&P 500 “gained 0.89% to close at 5,224.62, punching above the 5,200 level for the first time ever.,” and the Nasdaq Composite “jumped 1.25% to settle at 16,369.41.” Previous Top Stories  • Discover Boating Northwest Sportshow Caps Off Winter Boat Show Season  • Federal Reserve Struggling With Inflation Bumps As It Weighs Rate Cuts

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