Fed Beige Book
Also late Wednesday was the 2:00 PM ET release of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book. It didn’t give us any big surprises, showing economic activity had changed little since the last update in most of the Fed’s twelve regions. However, half of the districts reported weaker employment conditions, raising further concern about the sector that may cause the Fed to make another rate cut next month. Another key point is that prices remained elevated (inflation) and are restricting consumer spending, which supports the theory the Fed shouldn’t cut rates yet because it could fuel an increase in inflation. In other words, there wasn’t anything significant in the report that likely altered what the Fed will do next month. They are still divided about the best action to take at the upcoming FOMC meeting. Bonds also had little reaction to this report, making it a non0factor for mortgage rates.