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What Will the Fed Do in 2019?

kevin-temp2
Kevin Flanagan
Head of Fixed Income Strategy
Follow Kevin Flanagan
01/11/2019

Without a doubt, the Federal Reserve (Fed) outlook had changed considerably by the close of 2018. 

 

Prior to Fed Chairman Powell’s recent “walk-back” comments regarding where the “neutral” Fed Funds target sits, market expectations were centered on at least two rate hikes in 2019. However, as of this writing, Fed Funds Futures are pointing to no increases this year—and then even a possible rate cut in 2020.

 

In our opinion, we see the Fed going back to the “normal” way of doing business in 2019. Policy makers will be data dependent. The FOMC removed the phrase “The stance of monetary policy remains accommodative” in September.

 

So, where Fed Funds sit as compared to what is viewed as neutral (which is a moving target) has already been part of the equation. A data-dependent Fed is how the FOMC would have operated prior to the financial crisis/great recession; telegraphing when each move would occur every three months was not the policy norm.

 

Assuming the hard data confirms a slowing in U.S. economic growth (which is what the policy makers themselves are expecting), our base case revolves around two rate hikes in 2019, and then the Fed will pause to reassess.

 

Please read our full 2019 outlook here.

For more investing insights, check out our Economic & Market Outlook

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About the Contributor
kevin-temp2
Kevin Flanagan
Head of Fixed Income Strategy
Follow Kevin Flanagan
As part of WisdomTree’s Investment Strategy group, Kevin serves as Head of Fixed Income Strategy. In this role, he contributes to the asset allocation team, writes fixed income-related content and travels with the sales team, conducting client-facing meetings and providing expertise on WisdomTree’s existing and future bond ETFs. In addition, Kevin works closely with the fixed income team. Prior to joining WisdomTree, Kevin spent 30 years at Morgan Stanley, where he was Managing Director and Chief Fixed Income Strategist for Wealth Management. He was responsible for tactical and strategic recommendations and created asset allocation models for fixed income securities. He was a contributor to the Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Global Investment Committee, primary author of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s monthly and weekly fixed income publications, and collaborated with the firm’s Research and Consulting Group Divisions to build ETF and fund manager asset allocation models. Kevin has an MBA from Pace University’s Lubin Graduate School of Business, and a B.S in Finance from Fairfield University.