Oh NOOO! Powell Sinks Stocks

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell not mincing words when it comes to rate hikes. Powell telling the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee that, given recent strong economic data, interest rates will likely need to be "higher than previously anticipated." In his first day of testimony on Capitol Hill, Powell faced questions about whether or not the Fed's rate hikes will lead to higher unemployment. In one of the testier exchanges, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) asked Powell to address workers who may lose their jobs due to the Fed's rate hike campaign. Powell responded that he would tell them "inflation is extremely high and it's hurting the working people of this country badly," adding later, "will working people be better off if we just walk away from our jobs and inflation remains 5%-6%?" The hawkish comments spooked investors, sending stocks lower for the day (DJIA, SPX, IXIC). For more on Powell's testimony, you can read Yahoo Finance's recap of the testimony here. To watch analysis from Michael Gapen, Bank of America's chief U.S. economist, click here. Key video takeaways 0:10 The ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated. 0:22 Congress really needs to raise the debt ceiling. 0:31 (Sen. Kennedy) So in effect, I'm not being critical when you're slowing the economy, you're trying to put people out of work. 0:42 I think nothing about the data suggests to me that we've tightened too much. Indeed, it suggests that we still have work to do. 0:49 (Sen. Warren) How would you explain your view that they need to lose their jobs? 0:52 I would explain to people more broadly that inflation is extremely high and it's hurting the working people of this country badly.
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