Treasurer ‘monitoring’ volatile market closely

STATE CAPITOL BRIEFS

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

TREASURER ‘MONITORING’ VOLATILE MARKET CLOSELY

Almost as soon as the last echo of the opening bell reverberated off the walls of the New York Stock Exchange trading floor Monday morning, investors watched as the Dow Jones Industrial took a nosedive, dropping about 1,000 points in mere minutes. Among the countless investors watching the market today is state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, whose office has oversight of state investments and the Pension Reserves Investment Trust. “We are monitoring the situation with the market closely but as a long-term institutional investor, the Pension Fund’s true gains are measured over years, not days,” Goldberg said in a statement to the News Service. By noon, the Dow had regained much of the morning’s loss, climbing back to within about 250 points of where it opened the day. The current market volatility, Goldberg said, highlights the importance of actions taken by the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board in recent years. “PRIM has reduced its equity position in recent years to lower risk, and the current market volatility highlights the importance of this change,” she said. The volatility of the stock market could also have repercussions for the state budget, which relies heavily on capital gains taxes. – Colin A. Young/SHNS

GAS PRICES CONTINUE TO FALL

Gas prices continue to drop as the summer vacation season winds toward its Labor Day end, down another 8 cents from last week to their lowest point since mid-April, according to AAA Northeast. AAA’s survey of prices taken Monday found the price of a gallon of regular unleaded self-serve gasoline at $2.40 per gallon, nearly a quarter cheaper than a month ago and 20 cents less than the national average. A year ago at this time the average price of a gallon of gas in Massachusetts cost $3.45, more than a full $1 more expensive. – Matt Murphy/SHNS

WARREN NOT TALKING ABOUT 2018 RE-ELECT

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, mid-way through her first term as the state’s senior senator, would not commit to seeking re-election in 2018 during a Sunday morning television appearance. “Too early to talk about that,” Warren told WBZ host Jon Keller during a sit-down interview in which talked about everything from her efforts to steer the national conversation around student debt and protecting Social Security to the Iran nuclear deal and the 2016 presidential election. When pressed on her thoughts about a second term, Warren said, “Hey, what I will say is I’m committed to getting out every single day and fighting for the families who sent me.” When Keller asked her bluntly whether she didn’t want to answer the question about seeking re-election, the Cambridge Democrat agreed: “I don’t want to answer that question,” she said. The interview was taped last week before reports of Warren meeting with Vice President Joe Biden at his Washington, D.C. home over the weekend as the vice president weighs whether to enter the Democratic primary for president. – Matt Murphy/SHNS