No US Federal Reserve speakers expected today, FOMC blackout period

The Federal Reserve’s “blackout” policy limits the extent to which participants and staff of the Federal Open Market Committee can speak publicly or grant interviews. The period begins on the two Saturdays before a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and ends on the Thursday following the decision (decisions always occur on Wednesdays).

Often, Federal Reserve officials will schedule important speeches just before the blackout period begins in order to guide market participants about the upcoming meeting. In general, the Fed doesn’t like to surprise the markets, so its officials give clear indications of what’s coming. If senior Fed officials need to adjust market expectations between the start of the outage and the decision, they could give hints to the press; usually the Wall Street Journal.