Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will address policymakers today in Jackson Hole, Wyo., as the central bank grapples with pressure from the Trump administration to cut interest rates and internal division over whether it’s time to give in.
Investors will be watching closely for any clues to how the board is leaning ahead of its meeting next month — including any signs that the even-keeled Powell may have recalibrated his view of the economy amid a mixed bag of earnings reports from retailers this week, the latest data to cloud Wall Street’s outlook.
Expect Powell to also touch at least obliquely on Fed independence — “What does he have to lose, really, at this point?” one source told CNBC — as President Donald Trump and his allies continue to berate its members over an ongoing headquarters renovation and recent allegations of mortgage fraud against one of them.