Fed Chair Has More Bad News

Jerome Powell opened his mouth on Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee, Wall Street listened and wasn't happy, and probably no one who's possession of a variable interest rate will be, either. "The latest economic data have come in stronger than expected, which suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated," Powell said in remarks for the Senate Banking Committee, per CNBC.

Powell is set to give more testimony in Congress this week, and then that's the end of his scheduled public remarks, notes the Wall Street Journal. Noting that the Fed would make policy "meeting by meeting," Powell said that "if the totality of the data were to indicate that faster tightening is warranted, we would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes." Wall Street cringed, with the Dow down .95% as of this writing, the S&P down 1.05%, and the Nasdaq down .79%. (More Jerome Powell stories.)