The Federal Reserve has declined to lower rates today. This decision follows three straight rate cuts of a quarter point each.
President Trump has repeatedly called for more rate cuts to fuel the economic recovery from Bidenomics, and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s rate-cut hesitancy has resulted in a long-running feud between the two.
Following the announcement to hold rates steady, Powell struck an optimistic tone on the economy. "(Consumer) sentiment, the beige book, everything comes in suggesting that this year starts off on a solid footing for growth," he said. "We haven't made any decisions about future meetings, but the economy is growing at a solid pace, the unemployment rate has been broadly stable."
KTRH Money Man Pat Shinn reads the Fed's actions and Powell's comments as steady-as-she-goes. "The bottom line message...the Federal Reserve is on hold," says Shinn. "When they say the economy is growing at a solid pace, what we take from that message is they can just afford to watch and wait."
The Federal Reserve will have another opportunity in March to cut rates...but there's no guarantee anything will change then.
"This Fed meeting did not change anything," says Shinn. "I follow these trends daily, and it has been a very, very long time since I can remember when we had a Federal Reserve meeting and there was no change, I mean none, in expectations for rate cuts down the road."