Interest Rates

Is the Fed Overdoing it?

Posted 09/23/2022 8:51AM CTJeff Yasak

Stock futures are sliding this morning setting up a huge losing week on fears of the aggressive Federal Reserve policy. These actions have also sent the Treasury yields in a steep climb to new highs.  The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised benchmark interest rates by another three-quarters of a percentage point and indicated it will keep hiking well above the current level.  The consensus is another 1.25% before the end of the year.  Trying to bring down inflation which is running near its highest levels since the early 1980s, the central bank set its federal funds rate to a range of 3%-3.25. This is the highest it has been since early 2008 and was the third consecutive 0.75 percentage point move.  The Fed started increasing rates back in March when the base rate was near-zero. This has been the most aggressive tightening since they started using the overnight rates as its main policy tool back in 1990. It has been said all along that they would do whatever they felt necessary to bring inflation down. “My main message has not changed since Jackson Hole,” Powell said in his post-meeting news conference, referring to his policy speech at the Fed’s annual symposium in August in Wyoming. “The FOMC is strongly resolved to bring inflation down to 2%, and we will keep at it until the job is done.”

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Jeff Yasak

Senior Market Strategist
Since leaving the corporate world in 1995, Jeff has established a name for himself as a trusted financial advisor and trading advocate—leveraging his studies in finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Loyola University, 25+ years of experience, and a passion for the industry to guide both novice and experienced traders in pursuit of achieving their own financial reward. Jeff began his career as a clerk in the S&P 500 pit at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange—fostering a deep interest in the options market that eventually drove him into the retail futures sector where he spent several years as a broker’s assistant before taking on clients of his own. Operating at the intersection of strategy and success, Jeff seeks to establish meaningful relationships with clients—synthesizing financial data and offering timely insight that informs critical decision-making surrounding money management and trading activities. Well-versed in the futures, securities, equities, and indices markets, Jeff is uniquely positioned to direct his clients to success. With a carefully cultivated combination of experience and expertise, he is able to connect with clients to better understand their goals and offer sound financial guidance that delivers notable bottom-line results.
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