§ DESK · 03 · FEDERAL RESERVE

The Fed.

Policy, not personalities. The target range straight from FRED, the balance sheet and the pace it is shrinking, what the futures market is paying for at the next meeting, where that lands against the Fed's own dots, and our read on what all of it does to your money.

Stance · Rising Real YieldsNext FOMC · OCT 27-28 · 27 DAYS
TARGET RATE
3.75 to 4.00%
FRED, as of 2026-09-30
QT PACE
+$4B/WK
Derived from WALCL 28d Δ
MARKET IMPLIED2026 YEAR END
4.17%
+1.2 moves of 25bp from 3.88% today, through the DEC 9 meeting. CME 30 day fed funds futures, 2026-09-30 13:00 UTC. Effective rate from FRED EFFR, 2026-09-29.
NEXT MEETINGOCT 27
66% HOLD
Hold 66%, cut 0%, hike 34%. CME 30 day fed funds futures, 2026-09-30 13:00 UTC.
§ 01 · FED DOTS vs MARKET

Who has to blink

SEP OF 2026-09-16
Year endFed medianMarket impliedGap
20264.10%4.17%+7bp
20274.10%4.87%+77bp

Fed medians: FRED FEDTARMD and FEDTARMDLR, from the Summary of Economic Projections dated 2026-09-16; the longer run median is 3.20%. Market: CME 30 day fed funds futures, 2026-09-30 13:00 UTC. Contract prices are chained through the published FOMC calendar, day weighted within each meeting month. A dot is the midpoint of the target range while the futures settle on the effective rate, which usually sits just under it, so a single digit gap is basis, not disagreement.

§ 02 · AC READ

What the Fed just did to you

◇ Rising Real Yields

Rising Real Yields · Fed read

SOFR sits at 3.9, up 0.26 in a month and near its 5 year average (z 0.1878), while the real 10y yield at 2.9 carries a 5 year z score of 1.4738 and rose 0.56 in a month.