The March 4 week has two reports that are likely to inform the tone of the deliberations at the upcoming March 19-20 FOMC meeting. However, these will be overshadowed by Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s upcoming semiannual monetary policy testimony – what old hands still call the Humphrey-Hawkins testimony. Powell will appear before the House Financial Services Committee at 10:00 ET on Wednesday, and the Senate Banking Committee at 10:00 ET on Thursday. Beyond what any of the economic data say, markets will be listening carefully to see if Powell’s testimony has any give on the outlook for monetary policy which has been ... (full story)