🚨 CORE CPI HIT WALLER'S 0.3% LINE, 50BP NOW ON THE TABLE
October CPI came in hot, and it landed exactly on the trigger Fed Governor Christopher Waller set the night before.
Headline CPI: +0.4% vs +0.3% forecast (Sept +0.6%). Core CPI: +0.3% vs +0.2% forecast, the third straight month at 0.3% (BLS, Nov 10, 8:30am ET).
Waller said in London on Nov 10 he will support a 25bp hike at the Dec 8-9 FOMC even if inflation cooled. His condition for going bigger: if core CPI rose 0.3% or more, "a 50 basis point hike in the policy rate should be considered." Core printed exactly 0.3%.
Futures now price about an 85% chance of a December hike to 4.00-4.25%, from 3.75-4.00% today. A Reuters poll of 101 economists agrees on December, but splits on what follows: 55% say that is the end of the cycle, 45% see at least two more hikes.
🔥 Why it matters: this is the last CPI print the Fed sees before it decides. The next one lands Dec 10, one day after the meeting ends. The chain runs hot core, higher for longer, stronger dollar and yields, then risk assets reprice, and crypto felt it first.
$BTC at $73,745 (-1.5%),
$ETH at $2,063 (-2.9%),
$SOL at $82.80 (-4.0%), with $600M in leveraged positions liquidated in 4 hours (WatcherGuru). Fear and Greed sits at 29, Fear.
My take: one governor is not the committee, and 85% market odds are not a Fed decision. Morgan Stanley's macro chief already called 50bp "too far." But the 0.3% print means Waller's bigger-hike option can no longer be dismissed as a bluff.
👀 What to watch: whether other Fed officials echo Waller before Dec 8, the Dec 8-9 decision itself, and whether BTC holds $73,000 while ETH defends $2,000.
Bottom line: the hike is nearly priced in, the size is now the argument.
December: 25bp, or does Waller get his 50? 🐂🐻
Not financial advice. DYOR.
#crypto #Fed #CPI