Closing Bell: 9/3/26

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**Scott Wapner** (0:58)
All right, welcome to Closing Bell. I'm Scott Wapner, live from Post9, right here at the New York Stock Exchange. Good to have everybody with us today. This Make or Break Hour begins with the Waller Rally. After the influential Fed governor said he's inclined to hold at the September meeting, yields dropped, hike expectations dropped, stocks, they moved higher. Take a look at the scorecard here, with 60 to go in regulation. We've been green all day long, and it's more than 1% for everything but the Russell. Discretionary Com Services Tech leading the way today. Another nice day for Meta as well. We're going to have a report coming up on why that stock is suddenly surging, especially over the last couple of days. Different directions today for both Snowflake and Broadcom, one soaring, the other sinking. Following their respective earnings reports, we'll dig a little deeper into both of those two. We do begin though with our talk of the tape, the big rate relief that stocks are feeling today and what it means for your money. We'll get to our panel in just a moment. As first, they'll bring in our Senior Economics Reporter, Steve Leesman. So we're going to talk about a few different things, but I'll get your reaction to what just happened moments ago when our own Eamon Javers was in the briefing room, asked the Vice President a question and he responded, and I quote, it's proper and responsible for the Fed to lower rates. I'm wondering what you make of that statement.

**Steve Liesman** (2:18)
You know that the administration from the very beginning, Scott, has not been shy about saying what it wants the Fed to do, and the President has done it. Now the Vice President is getting in on the act, and I guess we've determined that that's okay for them to voice their recommendation and what they think the Fed ought to do. And the Fed can just sort of ignore it. I don't think that that has any weight at all on the Fed, although I do think the presidential pressure does have some effects, Scott. I do think the idea that the president does not want the Fed to hike rates is something that weighs on the Fed and they're in what looks like a very close call.

**Scott Wapner** (3:00)
I think there was some thought as to whether Fed Governor Waller wanted the Fed to raise rates and going into these comments that he was anticipated to make today, I think there was some fear, if you want to use that word, around that. And he wasn't as hawkish as feared, was he?

**Steve Liesman** (3:18)
Yeah, very much firmly on the fence. I'm calling it that the market is climbing the Waller of less inflation worry, I think is where we're at right now, Scott.
He's really pinned his decision on the August inflation report which will come out a week from tomorrow. Notice that the employment report tomorrow is of less significance to the Fed. They think that the job market is stable and not a source of inflation. But Waller said, look, if inflation is not heating up, and there are some signs that we have some disinflation out there, that he could hold rates where they are, and if it's hot, he would hike rates. This follows, I would point out the dovish comments, I would say, from New York Fed President John Williams, who also sees inflation coming down. I would say there's a lot of people who disagree with him, and all of this follows, by the way, some pretty hawkish comments from the Fed chair last week, which does raise an interesting question of, what does Warsh want to do versus what do two of his senior lieutenants want to do?

**Scott Wapner** (4:20)
I mean, Waller obviously had an impact on the bond market because yields came down and hike odds came down to 54.6 from 63.2 just a day ago. What's striking still is that the market basically at 50-50, as it was going into the last meeting, is this just the way that it's going to be, going in to almost every meeting coming up, 50-50 because it's so unprecedented for the market to be, if you want to suggest, guessing as to what's going to happen. It's usually not in that position. It obviously speaks to the lack of forward guidance.