Markets Read What They Want Into FOMC Minutes – Ep. 119

  • Earlier Wednesday, they released the FOMC minutes
  • Everybody expected the minutes to express the FOMC intention to raise in December
  • CNBC’s Steve Liesman says it’s a sure thing
  • The minutes show that most members believe that the conditions will be right for a December rate hike but, it depends on the data that comes out before the December meeting
  • That does not sound like a guarantee
  • Even if conditions are appropriate for a rate hike that doesn’t mean the rates will go up
  • If the rate hike really depended on the data, it has all been bad!
  • The only reason they may raise rates is because they feel the market might become suspicious of the game they are playing
  • They even said in the minutes that what’s important is not when they do the first hike, it’s when they do the second hike and how many subsequent hikes there will be
  • Speculation is that it will be one and done
  • This is going to result in a sell-off in the dollar and a rally in gold
  • What will happen is that the data is going to get weak?
  • We already have a decelerating economy