Kevin Hassett wants Jerome Powell off the Fed board, a move that would let Trump nominate someone to one of the FOMC's 12 votes. Powell voted for the September hike Hassett says he disagreed with, so the seat is worth one dissent until other voters move.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives70
- Confidence50
Bitcoin sat at $85,276 on Sunday, below the $86,000 area it hit before payrolls, even as Glassnode put October Fed hike odds at 22% from 66%. This week's fund-flow data will show whether ETF buyers are taking over from the short covering that lifted it.
Reality
- Evidence58
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+12
- Incentives
- Insufficient
- Confidence52
US employers added 29,000 jobs in September while the Bureau of Labor Statistics cut 60,000 from its July and August counts. With layoffs still falling, the data describe a hiring freeze that argues for slowing headcount plans and holding cuts in reserve.
Perspective Coverage
4 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 9%
- Operator
- Operator 40%
- Investor
- Investor 51%
Reality
- Evidence80
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+10
- Incentives
- Insufficient
- Confidence75
Fed policymakers raised rates 12-0 to 3.75%-4% on Sept. 16, and 16 of 18 projected at least one more quarter-point hike this year. Long yields have since risen more than the hike itself, so borrowers have more reason to plan around that projection than around President Trump's complaint.
Reality
- Evidence60
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives45
- Confidence55
Bitcoin rose to $86,757 after August core PCE came in at 3.0% against 3.3% expected and October hold odds jumped to 74% from 35.8%. The year's sub-$1 billion ETF total understates the buying, because a strong third quarter first had to cover first-half redemptions.
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption48
- Hype gap+18
- Incentives58
- Confidence60
US spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $102.7 million on October 1, a tenth of September 21's $999 million, as Bitcoin neared $87,000. That leaves the Fed's October 27-28 meeting, more than the seasonal record, to decide whether fund buyers return in size.
Reality
- Evidence68
- Adoption45
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives
- Insufficient
- Confidence64
Donald Trump wants Jerome Powell forced off the Fed board over a renovation audit and sued if he stays, in a seat whose term runs to January 2028. TD Cowen expects the threat to keep Powell there until at least early January 2027, so Trump gets no vacancy to fill.
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives58
- Confidence60
Myriad traders give Bitcoin 48% odds of touching $90,000 in October, a 7.4% climb that is half the month's median gain since 2013. Rates explain that discount better than fund flows do, since September's spot-ETF buyers have so far barely sold.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+10
- Incentives70
- Confidence50
Bureau of Economic Analysis revisions cut July's core-services PCE inflation by 34 basis points to 3.35%, partly via new methods for three categories. August came in at the same 3.35% on the new method, so the revision lowered the level of inflation without slowing it.
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 3%
- Operator
- Operator 25%
- Investor
- Investor 72%
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+12
- Incentives45
- Confidence64
Bitcoin gained about 6% in September as the dollar index rose nearly 2% and the 10-year Treasury yield passed 5%. Most of that gain came from a burst of ETF buying, so allocators who treat bitcoin as a bet against the dollar are really underwriting that flow.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption55
- Hype gap+35
- Incentives
- Insufficient
- Confidence50
Bitcoin fell to $82,568 on Monday, about 4% under the $86,000 average cost of US spot-ETF holders, two days before its September and third-quarter closes. Corporate treasuries paid $80,500 on average, so Wednesday's close sets whether each group ends the quarter in profit or underwater.
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 5%
- Operator
- Operator 13%
- Investor
- Investor 82%
Reality
- Evidence64
- Adoption55
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives45
- Confidence62
Kevin Hassett, the White House's top economist, says three-month core inflation near 2% leaves the Fed little room to raise rates. Wednesday's August PCE release will test his window on the inflation gauge the Fed itself prefers.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives80
- Confidence50
New York Fed President John Williams called one more rate hike this year reasonable, citing AI investment demand and energy prices with inflation at 3.4%. Sixteen of 18 Fed officials project at least one more move, so borrowers should plan on a policy range of 4% to 4.25% or higher by year-end.
Reality
- Evidence72
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives
- Insufficient
- Confidence75
Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin said tariffs, gasoline and AI spending are keeping inflation up after the Fed's first rate increase since mid-2023. Planning for cuts now means betting against the persistence Barkin described.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap0
- Incentives
- Insufficient
- Confidence55
The Fed's quarter-point hike arrived with a projections table carrying eighteen members' views of where rates finish the year and none from Kevin Warsh, who rejects forward guidance and says the next decision follows the data.
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 5%
- Operator
- Operator 43%
- Investor
- Investor 52%
Reality
- Evidence70
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+5
- Incentives35
- Confidence68
The Fed took its target range to 3.75-4.00% on September 16 and raised its median PCE forecast to 3.7% in the same document, so the real cost of holding a metal that pays no coupon moved by about a sixth of a point.
Perspective Coverage
17 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 8%
- Operator
- Operator 25%
- Investor
- Investor 67%
Reality
- Evidence78
- Adoption60
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives45
- Confidence75
Kalshi prices Democrats taking the Senate at 61% and Polymarket at 65%, while Piper Sandler's upgrade reached only 45% and still calls the chamber roughly a toss-up. The two baselines sit 16 points apart.
Reality
- Evidence58
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives45
- Confidence52
The Fed's unanimous quarter-point hike still pushed the two-year yield higher, and the dollar gained on both the yen and the Canadian dollar. Marc Chandler sees a quieter data week making politics more salient.
Reality
- Evidence42
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+12
- Incentives35
- Confidence40
A Glassnode and Bybit report with data through August 23 found coin-denominated open interest fell 12.6% as Bitcoin rose 24.6%, and the same short squeeze repeated this week when the Fed paired a hike with a dovish forecast.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+12
- Incentives65
- Confidence50
The 30-year mortgage sits 41 basis points above where it was last September, existing home sales have fallen three months running, and August's monthly inflation stepped back up to 0.4%. Housing-exposed plans need a new base case.
Reality
- Evidence66
- Adoption68
- Hype gap+18
- Incentives45
- Confidence58