A December Fed Cut Is Coming But the Bigger Battle Will Happen Next Year

The Federal Reserve enters its pre-meeting blackout period this week with markets pricing in an 89 percent chance of a rate cut at the December 9-10 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Since Fed officials have done nothing to discourage this view, consider it confirmed. What happens after that, though, gets considerably more interesting—and potentially treacherous for the Trump administration.

After December’s expected cut, the fed funds futures market shows no appetite for further reductions until April , which would likely be Jerome Powell’s final meeting as Fed chairman. President Trump has announced he’ll name Powell’s successor early in the new year, and the betting markets have spoken: Kevin Hass

See Full Page