Wall Street: We Want Lower Rates. The Fed: Not So Fast

There was a time not too long ago when traders were betting that the Federal Reserve could start cutting interest rates at its meeting today. This was back in the summer, when one of those periodic bouts of euphoria was sweeping across markets because, the cognoscenti had determined, inflation would quickly subside and pave the way for the central bank to shift its focus to shoring up growth.

That didn’t pan out, of course. Instead, the Fed’s rate setting committee nudged up the benchmark by a quarter point, the eighth straight increase since March but also the smallest.