Business Rundown: Will The Fed Grant Investors’ Christmas Wish This Week?

You could call this an early Christmas gift. A delayed September PCE report was released last week, focusing on core inflation–a price measure closely watched by the Federal Reserve. It came in cooler than expected, which is encouraging for the Trump administration, as it has been pushing the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.

While attention is on this week’s rate decision, eyes are already on next year. You could say the current Fed Chair, Jerome Powell, is on Trump’s naughty list, and the nominee to replace him will likely be named in early 2026. What will that mean for the direction of monetary policy?

Kenny Polcari, the Chief Market Strategist at Slatestone Wealth, shares insights on what investors are expecting from the Fed this week, who they think may replace Powell, and what to anticipate from the markets in the final weeks of 2025.