While there still appears to be some confusion over how to interpret the Fed's very dovish comments and Powell presser, Goldman's Adam Crook writes (full note here to pro subs) that "the May FOMC meeting was mostly uneventful but dovish overall. While the Committee added a hawkish acknowledgment of the “lack of further progress” on inflation so far this year to its statement, Chair Powell offered a dovish message in his press conference: strong pushback against the possibility of rate hikes", and to top that off, trader Lindsay Matcham makes a very clear case (note available to professional subs) why the FOMC was especially bullish for risk assets for the following 3 reasons (which we excerpt below):
1) Dovish Powell Pushes Back Against Hikes
Despite the recent hot data Powell mentioned upcoming disinflation noting “that he did not see signs of reheating and that inflation expectations remain anchored; emphasized the “lag structures built into the inflation process”; expressed confidence that a decline in housing and continued supply-side healing would deliver further disinflationary dividends; and forecast that (sequential) inflation will move back down this year.” He also talked about the softness of the labor market and effectively killed hikes. This despite core PCE at roughly 3% and consistently strong jobs prints.
