About that 75 basis point emergency cut…

Wharton professor and frequent market commentator Jeremy Siegel caused a stir on Monday by calling for an emergency 75 basis point rate cut as markets melted down. He doubled down by calling for another 75 bps in September “at minimum.”

Skip ahead a few days and he has had a change of heart.

“I no longer certainly think it’s necessary. But I want [Powell] to move
down to 4% as fast as possible,” Siegel said to CNBC.
“Would it be bad? No. But would it be necessary? No, not at this time.”

The market is pricing a 55% chance of 50 bps on Sept 18 and a 45% chance of 25 bps with 104 bps priced in through year end.

So what’s the lesson here?

The main one is that when people on TV like Siegel, Bill Ackman or Jim Cramer are panicking, it’s often a buy signal, or at least a signal that cooler heads are no longer in charge. It also highlights what’s likely to happen if things in the economy ever do get bad and that the Fed put worked.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.