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Future U.S. Government Shutdown? What It Means to Investors

With the deadline looming for the U.S. government to pass a bill in order to avert a government shutdown, Jeff Weaver, head of Global Liquidity Solutions, and Henri Proutt, portfolio specialist for the Global Liquidity Solutions team, discuss what investors should and should not be concerned about, depending on the result. Jeff and Henri recorded this conversation on November 14, 2023.

Fed Preview: Talk Isn’t Cheap

The old saying is that “talk is cheap.” It certainly isn’t if you’re a central banker. Investors hang on a central banker’s every word. Whether the Federal Reserve (Fed) hikes by 75 basis points (bps; 100 bps equal 1.00%) or 50 bps is probably less relevant than what Fed officials say with their Summary of Economic Projections (their guesses about what they’ll do in the future and how the economy may evolve).

Fed Be Nimble. Fed Be Quick.

When Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell took the helm of the Fed in 2018, the Fed was close to the end of its rate-hiking cycle that started in December 2015. At the time, he said the Fed would be gradual with hikes. Fast-forward to January 2022, and Chair Powell dropped “gradual” in favor of being “nimble.” Then in the spring of 2022, he said the Fed would move “expeditiously” to bring down inflation.