Tim Duy, Columnist

Timing of the Next Fed Rate Hike Is Now a Balancing Act

Policy makers need to believe the need for preemptive tightening has strengthened.

March 1, 2017 at 1:00 PM UTC

Tim Duy is a professor of practice and senior director of the Oregon Economic Forum at the University of Oregon and the author of Tim Duy's Fed Watch.

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Will they or won’t they? Bond traders are now pricing in odds above 75 percent that Federal Reserve policy makers will raise interest rates when they meet in two weeks, but there is still plenty of data to chew on before then. Moreover, there is no shortage of Fedspeak this week, with 11 officials lined up ahead of the blackout period, including Chair Janet Yellen and Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer.

If they want to send a strong signal either way, they still have plenty of opportunity. But maybe the data does it for them instead.