Usually we are impressed by the velocity with which Fed mouthpiece Jon Hilsenrath prepares his FOMC reaction digest while under embargo, often penning more words in the allotted 15 or so minutes than are even in the Fed's statement. However, he traditionally comments right after the FOMC announcement. We wonder if moments ago, Hilsenrath - who does not have a twitter account - did not leak the FOMC statement before its actual unveiling in just under 2 hours when via WSJ colleague Greg Ip's Twitter account he said:
Jon Hilsenrath: For Yellen, who likes to arrive 3 hrs early for a flight, raising rates without preparing mkts would be out of character.
— Greg Ip (@greg_ip) September 17, 2015 [7]
To be sure, a very well-timed tweet.
And then, perhaps to confirm, on WSJs new central bank pro section [8] he added that "It would be out of character for Janet Yellen to surprise the market" noting that he ran into "some New York Fed guys and they looked relaxed."
Finally, here he is on Fox Business banging the anti-rate hike drums starting early in the morning:
So did Hilsenrath just "prepare" markets with a two hour advance notice of what to expect? Or did he simply add to the Fed's communication failure by "hinting" the market to expect one thing, while Yellen will unveil the opposite? Not even Gartman has the answer to that.
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The market reacted...
[10]