Wall Street has been abuzz about a “dovish” turn by the Fed — or even a “U-turn.” So, today the Fed released the minutes of the FOMC meeting on December 18-19, during which it voted for the fourth rate hike in 2018, and the ninth in this cycle, bringing its target for the federal funds rate to a range between 2.25% and 2.50%. The WOLF STREET Fed hawk-o-meter checks the minutes for signs that the Fed believes the economy is strong and that “accommodation” needs to be further removed by hiking rates. The hawk-o-meter measures how many times the minutes use the word “strong,” “strongly,” and “stronger.” In the December ... (full story)