Chicago Fed President Evans (FOMC voter) and Richmond Fed President Lacker (FOMC non-voter) speak: The two presidents have nearly opposite views on monetary policy, with Evans falling on the dovish end of the spectrum and Lacker on the hawkish end.
Fed Vice Chairman Fischer (FOMC voter) speaks: Fischer will discuss the framework for monetary policy. We expect his speech to focus on the communications aspects of monetary policy rather than its near-term direction. He will likely discuss the value of the new uncertainty charts (fan charts) the FOMC will include in the next SEP. He will also discuss the value of providing FOMC forecasts more generally.
Fed Chair Yellen (FOMC voter) speaks: Yellen’s speech is the last scheduled appearance by an FOMC member before the March meeting blackout period begins. The timing of the speech is not coincidental and these remarks are the FOMC’s last opportunity to signal for a March rate hike. We do not believe that the FOMC is signaling a March rate hike and instead we have interpreted their “fairly soon” language as pointing to a rate hike in May or June. Although the Chair will discuss the risks of waiting too long to tighten policy further, we do not believe she is quite ready to hike rates in March, given the overhang of policy uncertainty.
*Times reported are local NY time.
Copyright © 2017 Barclays Capital, eFXnews™Original Article
