Fra Zerohedge:
US equity futures were already sliding this morning as option expirations loomed, but when St.Louis Fed Chair Jim Bullard appeared on CNBC and admitted that “it’s natural that [The Fed] has tilted a little bit more hawkish,” losses accelerated…
Treasury yields are also spiking, especially 2Y..
And the dollar is extending gains…
This was very much not what traders had been anticipating as they assumed a slew of Fed speakers would come out after Powell’s plunge to tamp down fears and offer dovish reassurances.
Bullard then added some more FUD by admitting that there “is some upside risk on the inflation forecast,” and confirmed that “Fed Chair Powell has opened the taper discussion this week.”
So much for transitory!!
Piling on, Bullard admitted that he is a “little concerned about housing market froth”, noting that The Fed “is leaning toward idea that it may not need to be buying MBS,” adding that “we don’t wanna to get back in the housing bubble game… that caused us a lot of distress in 2008.”
Did The Fed just pull the Powell Put?
