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NEWS
What You Missed On Wall Street

It was a long day in the markets, with earnings news and the Fed’s decision driving most of the notable moves. Chinese stocks bounced back sharply while U.S. commodities like cattle, corn, coffee, and more climbed quietly in the background. While the major indexes were down marginally, individual stock action kept traders and investors very busy. 👀 

Today's issue covers the Fed’s latest policy decision, earnings from 3 of the 7 “Magnificent Seven,” and many more noteworthy pops and drops. 📰

Here’s the S&P 500 heatmap. 4 of 11 sectors closed green, with communication services (+0.41%) leading and real estate (-1.19%) lagging.

And here are the closing prices: 

POLICY
Trump Turns Up The Heat On Fed Policy 🔥 

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) left rates unchanged as expected, ending its streak of three straight cuts. Its statement was largely the same as December’s though it adjusted the language to indicate that the labor market remains solid and inflation remains “somewhat elevated." 📝 

In his press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that the labor market has not been a significant source of inflationary pressure. He indicated the committee would need to see “real progress on inflation or some weakness in the labor market before we consider making adjustments.”

The labor market has stayed strong, and inflation stubbornly hangs above its 2% target, so there is not much for the Fed to do here. The market has seemingly come to terms with the Fed’s projections from last month, which indicated they see just two rate cuts during 2025 and another two in 2026. 🔮 

As for Trump, Powell said he has had no contact since the president said he would “demand” that interest rates be lowered “immediately.”

Just hours after the press conference ended, the president took to Truth Social to slam Jerome Powell and the central bank, saying they “failed to stop the problem they created with Inflation” and have done a “terrible job on Bank Regulation.”

This quote sums it up: “If the Fed had spent less time on DEI, gender ideology, ‘green’ energy, and fake climate change, Inflation would never have been a problem,” Trump wrote. “Instead, we suffered from the worst Inflation in the History of our Country!” 😡 

Clearly, President Trump’s battle with the Fed and its independent stance is just beginning. So, the FOMC Committee and the markets will have yet another uncertain variable to deal with as they navigate the current policy environment.

In the meantime, stocks sold off marginally on the rate news. However, as with most meetings, the real market reaction will take a few days to kick in, so traders should stay on high alert through the weekend. 🚨 

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