Fed cuts are coming, but how big?
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Updates to 11:47 ET
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FED CUTS ARE COMING, BUT HOW BIG?
Following Fed chair Jerome Powell's pretty unambiguous message that the pivot to easier policy will begin at the Sept 17-18 FOMC meeting, the market is focused on two big questions: Is the employmment picture worse than meets the eye?; and: Will any of the forecast cuts this year be an aggressive 50 basis points?
Fed funds futures are pricing in one percentage point worth of easing in the 5.25%-5.5% Fed funds target range by the December meeting. If one assumes no moves between meetings, the market is implying that the Fed will use one of its three remaining meetings this year to cut by half a percentage point.
Powell signaled the long awaited policy shift on Friday in a speech delivered at the Jackson Hole economic symposium, expressing less concern about inflation than the slowdown in the job market. Until recently he has been less vocal about the employment component of the Fed's dual mandate than the inflation component.
There is some debate over whether a 50-bp cut will come in September, after the Fed, which describes itself as data dependent, has a look at the August jobs report due out Sept 6. But the odds currently favor only -25 bp to kick off the easing cycle.
Between the September FOMC and the meeting on Nov 6-7 two employment reports will be released, on Oct 4 and Nov 1. If the labor market picture for September and October looks like it's deteriorating fast and threatening a soft landing scenario November could be a good month for 50. Or futures traders could be wrong.
Meanwhile, the Fed's favorite inflation benchmark, the PCE price index, is due out on Friday. It is usually a market mover.
Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research said in a note Monday that futures are pricing in the best of all possible worlds over the next 16 months, reflecting that the Fed "will cut rates at almost or every meeting over the next year, starting small in September (25 basis points, most likely), and then perhaps throwing in a 50 bp cut just to show they’re serious. By the end of next year, Fed Funds will likely be back close to the FOMC’s view of the neutral rate of interest (2.8 percent)."
Of course all bets are off if economic growth does not continue or inflation spikes again, or both.
(Alden Bentley)
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MONDAY'S EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS
DURABLE GOODS: TRANSPORTATION SAVES THE DAY, CORE CAPITAL ORDERS DISAPPOINT - CLICK HERE
WALL STREET STARTS MIXED AS S&P 500 FLIRTS WITH RECORD CLOSING HIGH - CLICK HERE
JOBS DATA TO DETERMINE SIZE OF SEPTEMBER FED CUT - CLICK HERE
SOFT LANDING MEANS SOFT DOLLAR? NOT SO FAST - CLICK HERE
PRETTY QUIET IN MARKETS - CLICK HERE
THE EUROPEAN STOCKS BULLS MUST BE IN BRITAIN - CLICK HERE
MARKETS REASSURED BY THE POWELL PUT - CLICK HERE
Opening snapshot https://reut.rs/4dBY4aF
Durable goods https://reut.rs/473912v
Core capital goods https://reut.rs/3XjYDjy
Interest rates rose rapidly, face an uncertain path down https://reut.rs/4cDGlON
Probability distribution - Fed funds term structure https://tmsnrt.rs/4cJ0WRA
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