, Columnist
Markets Got Powell's Message — Smaller for Longer
The steam from a 50-basis-point rate cut was let out quickly by the Fed chief dousing future expectations
Don’t expect so much next time.
Photographer: Al Drago/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
To get John Authers' newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here.
The Fed went for it. The first cut to the benchmark fed funds rate in four years was a big one of 50 basis points. Market pricing had moved in the last few days to imply that there was a slightly better than 50-50 chance that this would happen, but the economists away from the trading floor largely weren’t expecting it. Only nine out of 113 economists who responded to Bloomberg’s survey expected a cut of this magnitude.