It Doesn't Matter if Powell's Speech Matters

Some things will be yearned for, anticipated, and sought after regardless of how likely or attainable they are.  Applying this general truth to Friday's Jackson Hole speech from Fed Chair Powell, we can rest assured that there's no possible way for Powell to give the market what it truly desires: clarity on the Fed's policy path in the coming weeks and months.  All Powell can do is remind the market that such clarity will only gradually come into focus with the benefit of additional economic data.  With that in mind, the best Powell can do would be to help the market understand the Fed's baseline mentality as of today and their probable reactions to various eventualities in the coming weeks.  For any volatility that follows, it is not Powell's speech that will ultimately set the tone as much as the data and events that Powell says he's watching.