SPECIAL REPORT: Reaction To Today's Federal Reserve Update | Axel Merk

A live discussion at 8pmET today with Fed-watcher Axel Merk

A few hours ago, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee released the outcome of its meeting this week.

As expected, the Fed kept interest rates unchanged and made extremely few changes to it policy statement.

However, the Dot-Plot indicates that more members of the FOMC see rates coming down less fast (in 2025 and 2026) than previously forecast. 3 cuts are still forecasted for 2024:

(chart source: Zero Hedge)

This should be considered a hawkish change.

But after that, Fed Chair Jerome Powell held his press conference related to this release. And he was more dovish than expected:

• He was surprisingly dismissive of the Dot-Plot, stating that it didn’t amount to a “plan”

• He said he wasn’t too worried about the recent stickiness in inflation

• He noted that QT is likely to be decreased soon

• He made no attempt to quell the market’s animal spirits, even though financial conditions are now so loose they are now at the same level as they were when the Fed began it rate hike campaign back in 2021

It’s little surprise then that the market’s took all this as an “all-clear” signal to rocket higher. Stocks, bonds, gold, Bitcoin — all jumped higher on the news.

So, what does this all mean?

Is the Fed now feeling confident it has engineered a “no landing” outcome?

Is it safe to keep riding the market rally?

We’ll ask those questions in a few hours to Fed-watcher Axel Merk, who will be joining us again to deliver his expert reaction to the Fed’s latest guidance as well as take questions live.

This live event with Axel will take place later today at 8pmET/5pmPT. Only premium subscribers to this Substack will be able to participate. Details on how to access the event are provided at the bottom of this letter.

And if you’re not ready to become a premium subscriber, don’t fret. A replay of the discussion will be shared publicly on this Substack tomorrow.

For premium subscribers of this Substack, details for accessing today’s live event with Axel Merk are provided below.

And if you’re not yet a premium subscriber but would like to become one, you can do so by clicking on the button here: