There are 12 Federal Reserve Presidents, each from a different district of the country. All Reserve Bank Presidents attend the meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), but only five are allowed to vote on monetary policy. Although markets pay attention to all Presidents for their assessment of overall economic health, particular interest is focused on the comments of the voting members. As one of the most influential monetary policy tool, open market purchases can affect the money supply and move short-term interest rates. Speeches made by voting members are opportunities for markets to better understand the FOMC and its monetary policy goals, but even non-voting members may give insight into the direction of monetary policy in their statements. If a speech suggest sentiment in the FOMC is different from expectations, markets tend to move immediately.

Markets focus heavily on the language used in speeches. If the President is cautious about the inflationary outlook for the economy ("Hawkish"), then the market sees a higher likelihood of future rate increases. Optimism in the President's outlook ("Dovish") would suggest to markets that inflation is in check and that future rate increases are less likely, with the possibility of declines in rates.

On a Technical Note: The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) consists of twelve members--the seven members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; and four of the remaining eleven Reserve Bank presidents, who serve one-year terms on a rotating basis.

Relevance: Tends to move markets on release
Release schedule : Not set schedule
Source of report : Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Web Address : http://federalreserve.gov/
Address of release : http://federalreserve.gov/newsevents.htm