Fed Chairman Warsh Calls Rate Hike a 'Sober' Decision

Summary

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh spoke in Washington after the FOMC raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point, calling the move a sober, serious and responsible decision that had been prepared for over his first roughly 110 days in the role. He declined to give forward guidance or prejudge future decisions, saying he is not in the forward guidance business and that he is sticking to the discipline and principles he laid out at Jackson Hole. The excerpt contains no explicit investment recommendations or tradeable theses.

• The FOMC raised interest rates by 25 basis points.
• Chair Kevin Warsh characterized the decision as sober, serious and responsible.
• Warsh refused to comment on whether a sequence of further hikes will follow.
• He said he will not prejudge future policy decisions or provide forward guidance.
• He reiterated the principles-based, data-observing approach he described at Jackson Hole.
• A New York Times reporter asked about the hike sequence and the role of supply shocks in inflation.
• Warsh did not directly answer the supply-shock portion of the question.
• No explicit tradeable investment ideas were expressed in this excerpt.