Key Takeaways From the Fed’s Annual Jackson Hole Conference

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming is winding down.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the conference:

Powell Pivot

Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s widely anticipated speech affirmed expectations for an interest-rate cut at the central bank’s next gathering on Sept. 17-18, bolstering stock prices and Treasuries.

“The time has come for policy to adjust,” Powell said Friday. “The direction of travel is clear, and the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook and the balance of risks.”

Fed Chair Jerome Powell, from left, Tiff Macklem, governor of the Bank of Canada, and Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, during the Kansas City Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium

Photographer: Natalie Behring/Bloomberg

Powell said he has ...