Trump Slams Fed After Market Meltdown: "As Usual, Powell Let Us Down"
Update (1645ET): Well that didn't take long. We noted previously that Trump demanded a rate-cut - gets one but the dollar soars and stocks tank - who will be blamed for that?
And now the President has responded by slamming Powell who "let us down", telling his followers that the market wanted to hear that "this was the beginning of a lengthy and aggressive rate-cutting cycle which would keep pace with China, The European Union and other countries around the world."
What the Market wanted to hear from Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve was that this was the beginning of a lengthy and aggressive rate-cutting cycle which would keep pace with China, The European Union and other countries around the world….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2019
….As usual, Powell let us down, but at least he is ending quantitative tightening, which shouldn’t have started in the first place - no inflation. We are winning anyway, but I am certainly not getting much help from the Federal Reserve!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2019
As @Hipster_Trader pointed out so correctly, "Best economy ever needs lengthy and aggressive rate-cutting cycle…"?
Powell over-promised and under-delivered to a market that will "take a mile when given an inch"…
“His comment about an ‘adjustment’ probably means that those looking for an aggressive easing cycle over the next six to nine months are not going to see it. What it means is that there was a divergence between what investors were saying and what they were pricing in.
Investors wanted Powell to say that he’s cutting, but they really wanted to see the Fed embarking on a rate-cutting cycle. The consensus belief on what the Fed would do was correct. It’s just that the markets pricing in an aggressive cycle of rate cuts were way off.” - Matt Maley, equity strategist at Miller Tabak + Co.
“The catalyst for sell-on-the-news was that phrase. He made it explicit – basically, that’s what that phrase means. An insurance cut implied ‘Hey, it’s just an insurance policy. It’s a one-time premium and we’re done.’ And then he made it explicit with that sentence and the market figured it out.” - Charlie Smith, founding partner and chief investment officer at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.
And the result… (Is Powell the lady on the rope or Stallone trying to save us all?)
More
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-07-31/hawkish-powell-rate-cut-sparks-market-turmoil