Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day

Some Fed officials sound dovish. Insiders are betting big on stocks. Berkshire Hathaway’s Charles Munger has died. Here’s what you need to know today.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he’s encouraged by a recent slowing of economic activity, which may indicate the central bank’s policy is tight enough to contain inflation that nevertheless remains high. “I am increasingly confident that policy is currently well-positioned to slow the economy and get inflation back to 2%,” Waller said at an event in Washington. That sentiment was echoed by New York Fed President John Williams. “Encouragingly, the inflation trajectory has turned, with headline 12-month PCE inflation having fallen by more than half from its peak to a still-elevated 3.4% as of September 2023,” Williams said in a BIS publication. Fed Governor Michelle Bowman, however, voiced a hawkish opinion, saying she expects to support additional tightening of monetary policy to return inflation to the central bank’s goal.