The Federal Reserve continues to tell markets it’s serious about conquering inflation even if it means damage elsewhere. But the market is still struggling to take it seriously. So it will be up to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell next week to further emphasize the case. The central banker will speak to his peers at 10 a.m. ET Friday at the Fed’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This year’s focus at the Fed-sponsored event in Kansas City will be “Reassessing economic and policy constraints.” Market participants will be looking for clear guidance on how policymakers are looking to advance the inflation war, what the criteria will be, and what the possible consequences of the war will be. “The market is as data-dependent as the Fed, if not more. [The market wants] Quincy Krosby, equity strategist at LPL Financial, said: “The market nevertheless maintained a favorable move. The S&P 500 index rose about 17% on both better-than-expected corporate earnings — and confidence that the Fed will take a subtle and viable approach in its inflation war. That response seems to contradict the statements of many Fed officials, who have said that inflation is the main challenge now and demand an approach whatever is needed. Street Journal, he wants to see a third consecutive 0.75 percentage point rate hike at the September meeting. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said Thursday he is committed to fighting inflation and is uncertain whether Does it have to pay for the recession? And San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said she expects the Fed to keep interest rates steady when it hits a cap – contrary to market expectations of a rate cut in 2023. continued to recover even as Fed officials warned of rate hikes. spike, as was the case with Governor Michelle Bowman, who said earlier this month that “similarly sized” interest rates would rise as the three-quarter point level might be needed ahead. “The risk markets seem determined to read a dovish message in the Fed communications that we thought were simply not there.” Citigroup economist Andrew Hollenhorst said in a note this week. “A committee that values its ‘determination’ to combat inflation is unlikely to become significantly more dovish as long as core inflation remains above target and does not slow down convincingly.” But the week ended on a sour note, and possibly because comments from Bullard and others began to resonate with investors. “This year’s Jackson Hole Symposium comes at a critical juncture for monetary policy,” Matthew Luzzetti, chief economist at Deutsche Bank, told clients in a note. “Officials are plotting how to slow this ‘extraordinary’ tightening in a way that preserves its anti-inflation credibility while maintaining the prospect of a gentle landing.” The warnings are sounding all over Wall Street. Bank of America’s chief equity strategist, Michael Hartnett, warned that the market’s current rally is likely just a rally that could be aborted as investors realize that the Fed There is still much work to be done on inflation. The bank’s economists said even the recent series of better-than-expected news on jobs and retail spending should be viewed with caution, as “stronger incoming data reduces the likelihood the economy will slip into a recession in the near future, but could increase the risk of a hard landing over time as it could mean a tighter Fed.” Market prices have skewed towards levels. rate hikes by half a point next month, and the Street doesn’t expect Powell to give any clear signals in which direction he’s leaning. “How far are you prepared to go until price stability is achieved?” LPL’s Krosby said. “That’s ultimately what the market wants to know, and I’m not sure he was prepared to tell us.”