During Bank of Oklahoma Chief Investment Strategist Steve Wyett’s speech to the Rotary Club of Tulsa, he said The Fed is in "a bit of a tough spot here” when describing what the correct percentage for interest rate cuts should be.
But he’s happy with the .25% cut the Federal Reserve made Wednesday.
“As we move into 2026 and 2027, we think we're setting ourselves up for a really good environment for economic growth,” Wyett said.
Speaking about the decision to cut rates at a press conference Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said, “There are no risk-free paths. It’s not incredibly obvious what to do.”
Wyett said he expects more cuts to come before the end of the year.
Wyett also mentioned some potential risk factors for the market being tariff concerns and an overly aggressive immigration policy.
Tariff inflation depends on the industry
Wyett described the tariff issue as “hard” because it’s not a typical economic policy seen in recent years.
The Economic Policy Institute noted earlier this year that “tariffs are most effective when they focus on well-defined and narrowly tailored goals, they work best as part of a larger strategy.”
Wyett said tariffs have been a mixed bag when it comes to inflation.
“If you're talking about toys, appliances, clothes, where most of that is imported, there definitely is inflation,” he said. “If you look at auto prices, where we import a lot of cars, we haven't seen those prices move up.”
Too much immigration
While he said that he’s not a “political guy” during his speech, Wyett also said that there must be a middle ground when it comes to immigration policy to improve economic stability.
“There's just got to be a better way to get the people that are here into the workforce,” Wyett said. “This doesn't have to be a full amnesty, where you make everybody a full citizen of the United States, but give them a chance to be in the workforce for some period of time and earn that right to be a citizen of the United States.”
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller demanded that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers target Home Depots to remove immigrants.
