Good morning. I remember the days when a raised eyebrow from Ben Bernanke would spark hours of debate over the then Fed chair\u2019s mindset about the state of the economy. His predecessor, Alan Greenspan, bragged about learning to \u201cmumble with great incoherence.\u201d The model of the inscrutable U.S. central banker illustrated the power and prestige of the Fed, evoking a need to be flexible and deflect any market reaction to anticipated interest rate shifts that might not come to pass.<\/p>\n
Fast forward to today and, as one Fortune 500 CEO told me this week, \u201cit\u2019s a circus over there.\u201d Later today, Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to announce the central bank\u2019s first interest rate cut since December. In discussions this week, I casually asked some leaders about what they thought the Fed might do. Their reaction was quite different from the days of yore. There was concern about the Fed\u2019s ability to manage inflation and maintain a stable financial system. \u201cThey didn\u2019t act fast enough on inflation under Biden and they\u2019re not acting fast enough on a shift in the labor market under Trump,\u201d observed one.<\/p>\n
This moment feels particularly fraught. There is, of course, the hope that a 0.25 percentage point cut might boost consumer confidence, corporate spending, homebuying, investing, hiring, and all the other good things that lower interest rates are meant to do. The challenge for leaders there, is that there are so many other variables creating volatility in those areas, from tariffs to technology.<\/p>\n
But recent drama at the Fed has made some leaders worry about the health and reputation of the institution itself. President Trump has threatened to fire Powell, unsuccessfully tried to oust Governor Lisa Cook on unproven allegations of fraud, and appointed White House advisor Stephen Miran (who Fortune profiled back in May<\/a>) as a governor earlier this week while continuing to push the Fed to cut rates. If there is a rate cut, the President could claim victory, making \u201cthe credibility of the Fed further erode.\u201d<\/p>\n Most of the leaders I spoke to thought the best time to assess the impact of all this may not be today, but rather in the days and weeks ahead. One common belief that I certainly share in this climate: Bond yields, stock prices, hiring, borrowing, buying or any other metric may not move in a predictable pattern, no matter what the Fed decides to do.<\/p>\n Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com<\/a><\/p>\n Top news<\/p>\n Trump defamation lawsuit has \u201cno merit,\u201d NYT says<\/p>\n The New York Times responded<\/a> to Trump\u2019s lawsuit against the paper by saying, \u201cThis lawsuit has no merit. It lacks any legitimate legal claims and instead is an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting.\u201d The suit\u2014which you can read here<\/a>\u2014claims the paper tried to influence the 2024 election by, among other things, publishing an article which said, \u201c[i]t is hard to imagine a candidate more unworthy to serve as president of the United States than Donald Trump.\u201d Trump vowed to crack down<\/a> on \u201cThe Radical Left Media\u201d: \u201cWe are going to stop them at each and every level!!!\u201d<\/p>\n White House considering plan to label opponents as \u201cterrorists\u201d<\/p>\n The Trump administration is considering a plan to designate non-profit organizations that oppose the president as terrorist organizations, a classification that would automatically revoke their tax-exempt status, the NYT reports<\/a>. George Soros\u2019s Open Society Foundations and the Ford Foundation are two institutions under scrutiny.<\/p>\n Firings continue for employees who comment on Charlie Kirk<\/p>\n A number of high-profile figures have been fired for their comments following the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk, and the list is rapidly growing across industries. The wave of terminations is causing<\/a> employers to reconsider how much they want to regulate employees’ opinions as instances of political violence accrue.<\/p>\n Trump visits the U.K. with deals in hand<\/p>\n President Trump is enjoying a rare second state visit to the U.K. today. He arrives bearing a coterie of deals, worth multiple billions according to CNBC<\/a>, from companies including BlackRock, Alphabet, and Blackstone, in addition to a series of new energy partnerships that include nuclear power.<\/p>\n TikTok ban deadline moved to December 16<\/p>\n Unsurprisingly, the Trump administration has extended the deadline<\/a> for TikTok to reach a deal that would offload its U.S. operations from its Chinese parent. Potential buyers include a consortium including Oracle, Andreessen Horowitz, and Silver Lake Management. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to discuss the deal<\/a> later this week.<\/p>\n Under Armour CEO\u2019s defense of micromanagement<\/p>\n Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank is unapologetic about supporting micromanagement, calling<\/a> the leadership style \u201cunderrated\u201d and insisting that \u201cthe right answer will save us a lot of time.\u201d Plank said in a recent YouTube interview that he wants his relationships with employees to reflect the relationship between him and his young adult children, based on mutual accountability and \u201cmodeling the behavior that I expect from my teammates to live by.\u201d<\/p>\n Epstein contact book released<\/p>\n The House Oversight Committee released a tranche of new documents in the Jeffrey Epstein case, including the late billionaire sex offender\u2019s contact book. Download a copy here<\/a>. The book features hundreds of celebrities, politicians, and business leaders. None of the people within it are accused of wrongdoing. Significantly, President Trump\u2019s name is not in it, although other members of his family are.<\/p>\n The markets<\/p>\n S&P 500 futures were down 0.14% this morning. The index closed down 0.13% in its last session. STOXX Europe 600 was up 0.17% in early trading. The U.K.\u2019s FTSE 100 was up 0.19% in early trading. Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 was down 0.25%. China\u2019s CSI 300 was up 0.61%. The South Korea KOSPI was down 1.05%. India\u2019s Nifty 50 was up 0.23% before the end of the session. Bitcoin rose to $116.8K.<\/p>\n Around the watercooler<\/p>\n New Opendoor Chairman Keith Rabois says he doesn\u2019t know why the company has 1,400 employees: \u2018We don\u2019t need more than 200\u2019<\/a> by Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez<\/p>\n BofA sees gold hitting $4,000 per ounce in the second quarter of 2026. Here\u2019s why the bank sees more room to run after recent record highs<\/a> by Nick Lichtenberg<\/p>\n A 30-year-old Walmart worker falsely accused of celebrating Charlie Kirk\u2019s death was suspended from his job. Now he fears for his family\u2019s safety<\/a> by Eva Roytburg<\/p>\n