What to expect from Wednesday's Fed meeting on rate cuts as layoffs at major companies continue

Market Expectations & Fed Policy - The market anticipates the Fed will cut rates, pricing in a near certainty for a quarter-point cut, despite limited official jobs data due to a government shutdown [1] - Some anticipate a potential for 50 basis points (0.5%) of cuts tomorrow, although this is not a widely held view [3][4] - The market is betting that job cuts will prompt Fed cuts through the end of the year, with major indices setting intraday records [2] Employment Market & Layoffs - Amazon is officially cutting 14,000 jobs, and UPS has slashed payrolls by 48,000 this year, joining other companies like Target, Meta, and Starbucks [1] - The unemployment rate is expected to increase measurably over the next couple of quarters [3] - Corporate job cuts are a concern, particularly regarding their impact on consumer spending [7] Economic Indicators & Data - The absence of a month's worth of economic data due to the shutdown makes it difficult to assess the current economic situation [5] - Regional Fed surveys offer some insight into the economy [6] - Traditional measures of the relationship between the unemployment rate and the rate of change in the unemployment rate may not be reliable in the context of AI [6] Company Specific Analysis - UPS layoffs are attributed to a reversal of the pull-forward in goods demand experienced during the pandemic [8] - Amazon's layoffs are seen as a way to maintain capital discipline and continue investing in areas with the highest potential ROI, such as Nvidia and capex spend [9] - Companies may be cutting jobs to make gains in productivity [10]