Powell (7/31/24): “So on September, let me say this, we have made no decisions about future meetings and that includes the September meeting. The broad sense of the Committee is that the economy is moving closer to the point at which it will be appropriate to reduce our policy rate. In that, we will be data dependent but not data point dependent, so it will not be a question of responding specifically to one or two data releases. The question will be whether the totality of the data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks are consistent with rising confidence on inflation and maintaining a solid labor market. If that test is met, a reduction in our policy rate could be on the 1 table as soon as the next meeting in September.” Also unclear are the number of cuts before YE, although the median forecast of one cut, could turn into several in the September SEP. • Powell (7/31/24): “We didn't, of course, do an SEP at this meeting. We will do another one at the September meeting. I would just say I can imagine a scenario in which there would be everywhere from zero cuts to several cuts, depending on the way the economy evolves