Squawk on the Street Powell's Jackson Hole Speech: What's At Stake for the Markets and Investors 8/22/25
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Aug 22, 2025 
Torsten Slok, Chief Economist at Apollo Global Management, shares his insights on the pivotal factors influencing the markets ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's keynote speech. He discusses the complexities the Fed faces with inflation and employment as economic signals fluctuate. The conversation also touches on Nvidia's stock struggles amidst U.S.-China tensions, highlighting how technological advancements and global dynamics shape market movements. Slok emphasizes the crucial balance needed in interest rate policies to navigate these challenges.
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Weak Jobs Make Cuts More Plausible
- The labor market has softened sharply and that weak payroll report should push some policymakers toward cuts.
- But ambiguous signals let reasonable people disagree on timing and magnitude of easing.
Tariffs Could Become Persistent Inflation
- Tariffs may have a lagged inflationary effect and could push prices higher beyond goods.
- If tariffs feed into services and wages, the Fed's ability to ease diminishes.
Tech Rotation Is A Concentration Correction
- The recent rotation out of mega-cap tech is a technical popularity reset rather than a broad market collapse.
- Median S&P stocks are meaningfully off highs while the index itself barely is, signaling concentration risk.