Fed Chair Jerome Powell approval at 44%, much higher than Trump's at 36%, in latest Gallup Poll

 Gallup, here.

 

Donald Trump is responsible for all three of these guys

 

The Financial Times is full of it about a rate cut, and can't even spell

 

 ... the Fed chair is clearly more convinced by the employment side of that equation, indicating that “adjustment” may be necessary — a big hint that the central bank is poised to restart cuts in interest rates next month.

This was itself a surprise to investors, who seemingly were expecting a snoozefest. The dollar dropped sharply, government bonds jumped in price and stocks picked up at the end of a rough week as markets baked in those new expectations. A cut next month is now seen as a done deal, with likely chops in the following two meetings too. ...

If employment data for August picks up from its summer lull, which we will not know until the first week of September, then the Fed will be in the awkward spot of cutting interest rates in to a decent jobs market with inflation still running above target. “The Fed would risk a policy error if it were to cut rates,” warned analysts at Bank of America. ...

The Fed is supported by structures that protect its independence, but anyone who doubts Trump’s desire and willingness to bend it towards his will is kidding themself ... 

More.

Complete tosh. 

The Fed is data dependent, and there are two inflation readings and one employment report intervening before the next rate decision. 

Powell never even got close to saying the FOMC was poised to make a policy change. His remarks, as always, emphasize data and contextualize hypotheticals, that's all.

The press are scoundrels trying to bully the Fed like this. They are on Trump's level in Dante's Inferno. 

Powell said conditions "may warrant adjusting our policy stance." That could include a rate hike as well as a rate cut. He said "risks to inflation are tilted to the upside" while "the labor market appears to be in balance" even after the huge downward revisions to total nonfarm employment which got the head of the BLS fired.

In fact, he said that the latest data for July core pce inflation, which won't be out until Friday, indicate 2.9% year over year, an uptick from June's 2.8%. That's not good news for the rate cut cheerleaders, and that's why no one is reporting it. 

The FOMC is not going to cut the interest rate if that happens and employment remains steady.

August 29 and September 5 will tell us what is likely to happen on September 17, not The Financial Times. Fittingly, the ignoramus for The Financial Times ends her column with a preposition.

And don't forget core cpi inflation on September 11. Powell & Company will have all the very latest data for their decision, on which they will rely:

Monetary policy is not on a preset course. FOMC members will make these decisions, based solely on their assessment of the data and its implications for the economic outlook and the balance of risks. We will never deviate from that approach. 

Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at new record high Friday Aug 22 after Powell throws red meat

 

 Dow surges more than 800 points to post record close as Powell speech fuels rally: Live updates

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied to an all-time high Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled the central bank could begin easing monetary policy next month.

The Dow climbed 846.24 points, or 1.89%, reaching a fresh high and closing at a record level of 45,631.74.

The S&P 500 rose 1.52% to end at 6,466.91. At its session high, the broad market index came within three points of its record.

The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.88% and settled at 21,496.53. ...

 

 

Trump adds $1 trillion to the national debt in record time and S&P Global underscores its own irrelevance by maintaining the U.S. AA+ credit rating

 Trump tariff revenue expected to offset tax bill impact, S&P says in U.S. credit rating hold

... "We could lower the rating over the next two to three years if already high deficits increase ..." lol.

 These people are afraid of Trump.

They don't want to be singled out for Trump's daily Two Minutes Hate.

They don't want to be the next Jerome Powell, or Lisa Cook, or Volodymyr Zelensky.

Meanwhile year to date the Trump deficit is running $112 billion ahead of Biden's last deficit. DOGE so-called spending cuts and Trump Tariffs have done nothing to reduce it.

 

 

 

Why did Larry Kudlow cling to his job as Director of Trump's National Economic Council after he had a heart attack in June 2018?

 

 

Why Is Powell Clinging to His Job?

Larry Kudlow, New York Sun

 

Get off it, Larry. 

Well duh

 

Trump backs further away from firing Powell: ‘He’s going to be out pretty soon anyway’

What a shock, right, Trump's attacks on Powell's extravagance turn out to be completely hypocritical, including when you consider that he redecorated the Oval Orifice in gold leaf

 

Trump appointees pushed more marble in Fed building renovation White House now attacks

 

... As the Fed moved forward with plans to renovate its Great Depression-era headquarters in Washington during Trump’s first term, it faced concerns in 2020 during a vetting process involving Trump appointees, who called for more “white Georgia marble” for the facade of building.

 

The Fed’s architects said the central bank had wanted glass walls to reflect the Fed as a transparent institution, but three Trump appointees to a local commission felt marble best fit the building’s historic character. Marble was added as a result, according to the minutes of the Commission of Fine Arts, which advises the federal government on architecture. ... 

Russ Vought, Trump’s top budget adviser, cited “premium marble” in a letter to Powell last week as an example of the “ostentatious overhaul.” ... 

Trump issued [an] executive order in December 2020, which criticized modernist architecture and expressed a preference for “beautiful” classical buildings with more [costly] traditional designs. ...

KAOS denies plan to fire Powell

 

 

 Trump denies that he plans to fire Powell: ‘Highly unlikely’

The future looks bright for gold

 Trump ‘likely’ will fire Fed Chair Powell ‘soon’: White House official

These people are nuts.

Trump's stupid bullying of Jerome Powell is analogous to his stupid bullying of Canada's Justin Trudeau and now Mark Carney

Jerome Powell doesn't set interest rates.

 

The Federal Open Market Committee sets interest rates. That's why the release of the committee's prior meeting minutes is always keenly awaited and is by itself a major market mover. Powell's is one vote among many on the FOMC:

 

Where interest rates should be today, and when they should be reduced, is already a topic of debate inside the Fed, a decision, it should be noted, that cannot be made unilaterally by the chair. Powell’s leadership and professionalism does not appear to be a concern within the halls of the central bank. Certainly, none of his colleagues, present or past, have made the case that he is incompetent. 

 

 

Similarly the Canadian Prime Ministers' control over trade decisions is also muted, deferring as they must to provincial and territorial authorities.

 

Trump bullies people like this who cannot make unilateral changes to policy in order to make himself look like an assertive leader to his equally stupid followers.

 

That's why people like Larry Kudlow disgust me. He knows what I am writing is true, but he joins in on the pig pile nonetheless. 

 

Greater things are at stake in this than interest rate policy. Trump is playing with fire. 

  

Now the disgusting Larry Kudlow piles on Jay Powell

 

Can Jay Powell Make It Through the Weekend?

Larry Kudlow, New York Sun

This dope who works for Trump can barely speak English, is just looking for any way he can to oust Fed Chair Jay Powell

These people make me sick.

 

The renovations were approved in 2021 and won't be finished until long after Powell leaves next May. 

 

Trump budget chief Vought ramps up criticism of Powell, vows investigation into Fed renovations

It's an investigation with a pre-drawn conclusion, that's all.

... “When you go to the nation’s mall, you see the construction of this palace ... upwards of $2.5 billion massive cost overrun, and we want to make sure we have facts as to the largesse and the extent to which it’s overrun,” Vought said during a “Squawk Box” interview. “I think it just points to the fundamental mismanagement of the Fed under the chairman.” ... 

″The problem with Chairman Powell is he has been late at every turn,” Vought said. “It’s time to lower rates. You have a problem there. But again, this is about the largesse and the fact that he has systemically mismanaged the Fed, and that is evident by what we’re seeing with regard to this monstrosity, this Palace of Versailles, on the National Mall.” ... 

“This certainly has to do with the fiscal mismanagement of the Fed, of which [interest rates] is one aspect of it,” he said. “We are going to zoom in over the last several days on this. We have new commissioners at the National Capital Planning Commission who are asking very tough questions.” ...

Ron Insana: Why Trump’s new attack on Powell should be so troubling to investors

... If I were a foreign investor witnessing the ouster of a Fed chair, replaced by a presidential supplicant, I’d sell the dollar and U.S. bonds and head for the hills. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

Methinks J. D. Vance doth protest too much about Jerome Powell

 

It backfired on Powell, though.

 

Yields climbed in response. 10Y went from 3.63 on Sep 16 to 4.37 by Nov 1. And core PCE inflation shot back up.

 

It's proof yet again that the Fed has next to no control over interest rates. It's one of the great myths of our time that it does, a myth Vance believes.

 

If Powell had cut and Kamala won, irrespective of what rates or inflation did, Vance might have an argument. He should quit complaining and take the win.

 

Meanwhile core PCE inflation was 2.66 in Sep 2024, same as it was in Mar 2025.

 

You'd think twice about trying that again, too, if you got burned like that, especially if you're being hectored by the tag-team wrestlers of the Oval Orifice.

 

 

 

It's stupid for Trump to riff off today's producer price report and call Jay Powell names because the number is likely to be revised higher, and besides, that's just poor form, old boy

 

 May 2025 core producer prices, aka core wholesale prices, were reported today up 3.02% year over year. That will doubtlessly be revised up, especially as we get farther away from May.

Today's chart indicates April was up 3.18% yoy, but was originally reported at 3.1%. The latter was already rounded up, but the former rounds up to 3.2%. We'll see if that gets revised higher in coming months as well.

March was up 3.91% yoy we are told today, but originally it was reported at 3.3%.

February was up 3.74%, but originally reported at 3.4%.

January was up 3.92%, but originally reported at 3.6%.

December was up 3.74%, but originally reported at 3.5%.

The average up revision, including April, has been 0.3. 

Be that as it may, we have in the May report nine consecutive months with core producer prices up in excess of 3% year over year.

Meanwhile for the nine years 2012-2020, the average increase was 1.62% yoy. I don't call producer prices rising at a rate 85% higher than that in May 2025 good news. It may be "less bad" news, but that doesn't make it good news.

Trump's a jerk to Powell. Vance is a very polished jerk. Remember his treatment of Zelenskyy? Stephen Miller is a jerk to Rand Paul. If you've seen the Trump cabinet in action, many of whom are political losers, you've seen even more insulting jerks. They may be descendants of the people of Jerkola for all I know, but I can only speculate.

 

 

  

 

What they lack in intelligence they make up for in bad manners

 

Trump calls Fed chief Powell ‘numbskull’ as he urges interest rate cut

 

... Trump claimed at the White House that lowering rates by 2 percentage points would save the U.S. $600 billion per year, “but we can’t get this guy to do it.” “We’re going to spend $600 billion a year, $600 billion because of one numbskull that sits here [and says] ‘I don’t see enough reason to cut the rates now,’” Trump said. ...

Trump’s insult came hours after the Labor Department reported that U.S. producer prices rose less in May than some economists anticipated. ...

 

‘Immaturity’: Rand Paul rips White House after being ‘uninvited’ from picnic 

 

... “I’ve just been told that I’ve been uninvited from the picnic; I think I’m the first senator in the history of the United States to be uninvited to the White House picnic,” Paul told reporters. “The White House is owned by the taxpayers, we are all members of it, every Democrat will be invited, every Republican will be invited, but I will be the only one disallowed to come on the grounds of the White House.” ... 

 

Trump calls Powell a fool for not lowering rates, yields rise in response lol

 

Trump calls Fed Chair Jerome Powell a ‘fool’ after central bank keeps rates steady again

 

 

 

Mad King Ludwig is in a foul mood this Easter Monday because the Supreme Court ruined his weekend deportation plans

 Trump ramps up attacks on Powell, demands ‘loser’ Fed chair lower rates ‘NOW’

 

The Fed Chair Jerome Powell gave them what they wanted, a one quarter point interest rate cut, and the spoiled markets threw a fit anyway because of what he said about next year

The S&P 500 Equal Weight Index is down almost 7% this month, to date.

Meanwhile, more inflation for the rest of us, which Powell has never really tried to stop. You know, like Christianity hasn't failed, it just hasn't really been tried.

 

The stock market cheerleaders/Fed rate cut cheerleaders at CNBC, but I repeat myself, lied by omission about wholesale price increases yesterday, but CNN told the truth

 CNBC: Wholesale prices rose 0.2% in October, in line with expectations

Wholesale prices nudged higher in October, though largely in line with expectations and mostly consistent with the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates again in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday.

The producer price index, which measures what producers get for their products, increased a seasonally adjusted 0.2% for the month, up one-tenth of a percentage point from September though matching the Dow Jones consensus forecast. On a 12-month basis, headline wholesale inflation was at 2.4%.

Excluding food and energy, core PPI rose 0.3%, also one-tenth more than September and also matching expectations. The 12-month rate was at 3.1%.

"Largely in line" and "mostly consistent" lol. Both 12-month measures were higher than the consensus expected, which was 2.3% for headline and 3% for core. The year over year measures are the most important anyway, especially core.

Why lie about it?

 

 

CNN: Wholesale inflation heated up again last month, reversing recent progress

US wholesale inflation picked up more than expected in October, indicating that some price pressures persist at the producer level.

The Producer Price Index, a measurement of average price changes seen by producers and manufacturers, rose 0.2% on a monthly basis and 2.4% for the 12 months ended in October, marking an acceleration from September, when prices ticked up 0.1% for the month and grew 1.9% annually, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Thursday. ...

FactSet consensus forecasts called for a 0.2% monthly gain and for the annual rate to heat up to 2.3%.

Excluding food and energy prices, which tend to be volatile, core PPI rose 0.3% on a monthly basis, marking an acceleration from 0.2% in September. Annually, core PPI heated up from 2.9% to 3.1%, the largest increase since June. Economists projected a 0.2% monthly gain and a 3% annual rate. 

Obviously not all prediction models were the same. FactSet projected a 0.2% monthly gain for core vs. 0.3% for core shown above by FXStreet.

But again, the year over year is up MORE THAN EXPECTED for BOTH measures in most models. CNN mentions it, CNBC does not.

You can clearly observe that overall, headline wholesale prices year over year have been trending higher since June 2023. That bottom came out in July 2023, when the Fed last hiked the interest rate in the current cycle and then paused for good.

That was a big mistake.

The rise in wholesale prices since then is as good an indicator as any that higher inflation is deeply embedded in the economy and that the Fed stopped hiking too soon. Arguably core prices sent the same signal, but not starting until after December 2023.

Paying attention to core could explain the Fed's mistake, but for the fact that if the Fed were truly listening to this information, it wouldn't have then cut by 50 basis points in September 2024. I mean, c'mon man.

Jay Powell represents the interests of the bankers and Wall Street, for whom inflation is a good thing because it is the screen behind which the pipeline from prices to profits gets juiced.

He does not represent the people.

Who appointed that guy anyway?!