Prof G Markets · Thursday, September 17, 2026
Robert Armstrong, author of the Unhedged newsletter, highlighted the significance of the Fed's unanimous vote on the recent rate hike. He suggested this signals strong leadership from the Fed chair and aims to present a united front, countering theories of presidential influence.
“We can put to bed the theory that Kevin Walsh is Donald Trump's sock puppet. I had never bought that theory, particularly for the simple reason that I don't see what's in it for Walsh playing the part of the sock puppet. He had nothing to gain by doing that. He's in a good position to go his own way.”
“Point number two, and you mentioned this, which I think is very interesting and very important for this hike, is the unanimity. It was not at all obvious going on that all the voting members were going to agree on this outcome.”
“This is a very good sign for the Fed chair's credibility. Or might be. Right, there are two ways this may have happened. Either he wanted to hike and he got everybody on board, or almost everybody was on board and he wasn't, and he joined the crowd so he didn't look like a weenie.”