Economy
Are 20 Fed Speeches This Week, Even With Janet Yellen, Too Much?
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Hopefully it will come as no real surprise that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its December 2016 meeting. That is expected to be just a 0.25% hike, taking the target fed funds range up to 0.50% to 0.75% from the current 0.25% to 0.50% range.
The week of November 14 to November 18 is chock full of members of the Federal Reserve system speaking. Unfortunately, that means a whole host of dovish versus hawkish comments about interest rates and the future path of rate hikes.
The most watched event this week almost certainly will be Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen delivering testimony on the Economic Outlook before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress in Washington D.C. on Thursday, November 17. This will be Yellen’s first real commentary in the post-election cycle.
24/7 Wall St. went through various economic calendars for Fed-speak events this week. If there are no changes, there will have been 20 Federal Reserve speeches, remarks or commentaries made by the end of this week. Maybe Yellen matters the most as she is the Fed chair, but it just feels like too many speeches for the public to have to keep up with in the aftermath of the election finally coming to an end.
On Monday, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan participated in a moderated Q&A session at the Wichita Falls Annual Economic Forum in Wichita Falls, Texas. Also on Monday, Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker spoke in a media Q&A session prior to participating in panel discussion on the future of the national debt at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams participated on Monday in a panel discussion at the Bay Area Council in San Francisco.
Tuesday, November 15 was a day loaded full of Fed heads speaking as well. These include Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren speaking at the Portland Chamber of Commerce in Portland, Maine. Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo was set to speak in the morning on finance and on the economy at the Wall Street Journal CEO Council in Washington, D.C.
If Monday’s commentary wasn’t good enough, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Rob Kaplan was set to participate at the North American Strategy for Competitiveness Conference in Dallas on Tuesday. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer was also set on Tuesday afternoon to give a keynote speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.
Wednesday, November 16, will bring a speech from Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari appearing at the New York Economic Club. Also on Wednesday will be Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker giving a speech on the purposes and functions of the Federal Reserve in Philadelphia.
Thursday, about an hour ahead of Yellen, New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley will give the opening remarks at the Global Research Forum on International Macroeconomics and Finance at the Fed’s offices and then will speak about the evolution work at the Fed’s offices at an event for the Freelancers Union. That will be followed by Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard at the same event. Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans is set to give opening remarks at a conference in Chicago.
As you have figured out, this list is almost endless. Friday’s calendar will be full of Fed heads as well, with William Dudley (New York), James Bullard (St. Louis), Esther George (Kansas City), Robert Kaplan (Dallas) and Jerome Powell (Fed governor) on deck.
There are obviously going to be some redundancies in these speeches, with multiple events or efforts being made by the same Federal Reserve presidents or governors. That being said, this is 20 Fed-speak events for the week ending November 18.
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