ICYMI – Fed’s Beige Book predicts slowing growth and belt-tightening consumer spending

From the ForexLive Glossary:

• The Beige Book is a report published eight times a year by the Federal Reserve (Fed) that provides an overview of the economic situation in each of the Fed’s twelve districts.
• The report is compiled using information from Fed business contacts, economists and other experts and covers a wide range of topics, including employment, wages, prices and consumer spending.
  

• The Beige Book serves as the basis for the Fed’s monetary policy decisions and is also closely watched by economists, investors and companies.

• The report is unique in that it offers not only a national but also a regional perspective on the economy. The name “Beige” comes from the color of its cover.
• The report is released two weeks before the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and is often used by market participants as a source of information to predict the Fed’s monetary policy.

The last news was published on Wednesday (US time):

The summary is available at this link, but when the report finds that growth is rising at a “slight to moderate pace” and five of the Fed’s twelve districts are seeing “flat or declining activity,” that’s a sign that a rate cut is not too far away.

However, there may be a hurdle to overcome:

If I were Powell, I’d quit in July, kind of like a middle finger, but that’s probably just my opinion. The worst that can happen is that the new guy fires him and he goes on to secure a seven-figure contract at an investment bank.