Federal Reserve meeting minutes:
- Most judged level now appropriate barring a ‘material’ reassessment of the outlook
- ‘A couple’ said Fed should reinforce statement with communications that another rate cut unlikely without signs of a ‘significant slowdown’
- Many said rate cut warranted due to global weakness and trade uncertainty
- Some favored keeping rates steady and argued outlook was favorable and inflation expected to rise
- A couple supported rate cut but said it was a close call
- Several concerned some banks had reduced capital buffers when the should be rising
- Discussed that risks to the economic outlook remained tilted to the downside
This has all been well-communicated by the Fed since the meeting. The question I have is how willing they will be to hike rates if there is a China trade deal and some good growth next year. What I heard from Powell was that they’re not going to be hiking for a long time even if there is high inflation but I’m not sure if that was a slip or a signal.