Powell - Monetary Policy

Powell on Tuesday Fed Chair Jerome Powell spoke from Portugal yesterday. At first, he came off as rather hawkish... "Because the US economy is strong and the labor market is strong, we have the ability to take our time and get this right." Then, Powell started to sound less positive... "It's very much understood by us that we have two-sided risks and we have to manage them." The marketplace took that as dovish and the race, albeit on thin trading volume, was on for the balance of the session. Beyond that, Lazard Chief Market Strategist Ronald Temple released his second-half outlook stating that his base case was for the FOMC to start cutting its target for the Fed Funds Rate by September and to squeeze in three cuts of 25 basis points each in calendar year 2024. As an economist, I think that's probably follya nd would be an error. As a trader / investor, I pay attention to my environment and make decisions indifferent to my feelings.