The whole economy is basically holding its collective breath ahead of Jerome Powell’s big speech this afternoon. Today marks one of the more important Federal Reserve interest rate decisions, as investors are desperate for any semblance of a ‘plan’ for 2024.
A lot of this recent rally has been The Street kind of aggressively pricing in rate cuts by May even though the Fed has stayed hawkish and even threatened a rate hike or two yet-to-come.
So, gear up for a lot of volatility later today as the market’s going to overreact either way. We doubt that ol’ JPowell will surprise us by doing anything besides holding steady—but his remarks after the rate decision should carry a lot of weight.
Regardless, we should stay future-focused as investors. Let’s check out some of the bigger headlines that will have an outsized impact moving forward.