While economists' consensus is that the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates around mid-year, Newsmax Finance insider Sean Hyman doesn't expect a move until September or October, he told
Newsmax TV.
"I don't think that rate hikes are something to be feared at this point, because even if they start hiking, and even if they put in a couple of hikes this year, it'll probably be 25 basis points," the editor of Ultimate Wealth Report newsletter, told Newsmax TV's "MidPoint" show.
"So if you get 0.5 percent, is that going to kill companies in America? It's not. The earlier hikes never hurt companies. It's those later hikes, so I don't think we have anything to fear for quite some time on the rate front."
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The Fed has kept its federal funds rate target at a record low of zero to 0.25 percent for six years.
Hyman, author of "The Six Keys to Financial Success!" also offered his thoughts on other economic and business issues.
- "Employment is perking up," he said. "Unemployment is going down, and of course a lot of that is because a lot of people are leaving the labor force. What I'm not seeing as much is wages going up as much as they should."
- The unemployment rate slipped to an almost-seven-year low of 5.5 percent in February. And non-farm payrolls rose 295,000, representing the 12th straight month with a gain of at least 200,000. That's the longest such streak since 1995. But, average hourly wages rose only 2 percent in the 12 months through February. And the labor participation rate totaled only 62.8 percent last month, barely above the 37-year low of 62.7 percent.
- "The economy overall is slowing down some, so we've got to see that pick back up. If we don't see a bit of a decline in the dollar, and if we don't hold off on rate hikes a little bit longer, then of course it could cause GDP to grow slowly even further."
- The economy grew 2.2 percent annualized in the fourth quarter, down from 5 percent in the third quarter. The dollar has hit multi-year highs against a range of currencies in recent weeks. The euro dropped to an 11 ½-year low of $1.0842 Friday.
- As for Friday's news that Apple is replacing AT&T in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, "Apple needed to be added at some point," Hyman said. "It's the largest company in the U.S., it's the largest company in the world by market capitalization ($740 billion), and it's probably the most stable with the least debt and most cash."
- Hyman sees an interesting irony in the fact that Apple is replacing AT&T, through which it launched much of its iPhone sales, especially in the phone's first few years. "I also find it interesting that Verizon is still in the Dow, but AT&T is out," he said.
About Sean Hyman
Sean Hyman is a member of the Moneynews Financial Brain Trust. Click Here to read more of his articles. He is also the editor of Ultimate Wealth Report. Discover more by Clicking Here Now.