According to Internet reports, Nick Timiraos, the "Fed's mouthpiece", said Powell avoided a sharp question about July (interest rate cuts) and refused to rule out any possibility four weeks before the policy meeting. His overall comments gave little indication that he was preparing for a rate cut this month. The "excessive" focus on July, at least today, is inappropriate and may obscure more subtle changes in his and others 'rhetoric in recent weeks. After the Liberation Day tariffs, there was speculation that price increases could be so large that substantial weakness in the labor market would be needed to cut interest rates. But more recently, with the suspension of tariffs and the early (maybe too early?) Inflation readings for 2000 did not show a meaningful impact, and Powell hinted that interest rates might resume if inflation was not as bad as feared.