The Fed’s messaging needs an upgrade

Market watch: Traders at the New York Stock Exchange. The Dow Jones dropped over 600 points last week as US stocks fell ahead of the Fed’s talk on inflation at the central bank’s annual Jackson Hole economic symposium. — AFP

FEDERAL Reserve (Fed) chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at last week’s central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, was brief – but financial markets took notice.

The S&P 500 fell sharply as investors adjusted their thinking on how tough the Fed was willing to be to get inflation back under control.