About this episode
Danielle DiMartino Booth, CEO and Chief Strategist at QI Research, joins Julia La Roche to break down the FOMC minutes. Danielle discusses the deep divisions within the Federal Reserve and their controversial decision-making heading into December. She argues the Fed is willfully ignoring abundant alternative data sources like ADP's weekly reports while claiming to fly blind without official jobs data—data that won't be released until after their December meeting due to administrative delays. Booth warns that if the Fed doesn't cut rates in December, they risk triggering a liquidity crisis similar to December 2018, when Powell's hawkish stance caused a market bloodbath on Christmas Eve and forced him to reverse course. This episode is brought to you by VanEck. Learn more about the VanEck Rare Earth and Strategic Metals ETF: http://vaneck.com/REMXJuliaLinks: Danielle's Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/dimartinobooth Substack: https://dimartinobooth.substack.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DanielleDiMartinoBoothQIFed Up: https://www.amazon.com/Fed-Up-Insiders-Federal-Reserve/dp/0735211655Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction & post-FOMC reaction0:27 - Deep divisions within the Federal Reserve1:47 - Fed's tone deafness on inflation concerns2:05 - Politics at the Federal Open Market Committee3:32 - Alternative data sources: ADP & jobless claims5:38 - The irony: administration's self-inflicted rate cut problem6:51 - ADP data: what Powell said vs. what the Fed does7:32 - Market reaction & Nvidia's impact8:13 - Should the Fed cut rates in December?9:39 - Powell's contacts: the willful blindness problem10:12 - Fed independence vs. politicization11:28 - The damage of playing politics with monetary policy13:51 - Treasury yields & market concerns17:38 - Debt servicing crisis & political implications26:54 - Private credit & private equity discussions27:30 - Liquidity crisis warning: emergency rate cut risk28:44 - Question for Powell?29:27 - Why an emergency cut may be necessary31:52 - Closing thoughts
