Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is known for providing clear signals about the central bank’s next interest rate move in order to avoid roiling markets. But Wall Street was mostly clueless this week when it came to predicting how big a rate cut the Fed would deliver on Wednesday.

Governor Michelle Bowman, who supported a smaller cut, said she worries that moving too fast looks like ‘a premature declaration of victory.’

The reaction to the rate cut has been positive across the soft landing checklist. Odds of avoiding recession are higher following Chair Powell's aggressive start.