Keith Hembre Fed Quotations

Further moves will be dictated by the tone of the data leading up to the next meetings. This is not to say that the fed funds rate couldn't go to 5 percent but there would need to be more underlying strength in the economy to drive it there.

Oil is a double-edged sword. From one aspect, it lifts overall inflation but from the other side of the same coin it places a constraint on growth. So if oil prices remain high, the implications for the Fed get a little dicey,

The Fed are saying that there is no evidence yet that underlying inflation is moving higher.

It's not friendly for the Fed at all. This boosts the chance of a March rate increase; it should cement 4.75 percent.

What struck me as a little out of character was the Fed's characterization of inflation staying elevated, ... What was here was a clear absence of any sort of signal that the Fed is getting close to the end of tightening and the market seems to be reacting a bit negatively to that.