Russell Investments: Fed May Pause in October, Hike Again in December

The strategist's call frames the near-term debate less around direction than around sequencing — a pause that isn't necessarily an end. That distinction matters most for rate-sensitive corners of crypto and tokenized real assets, where the terminal-rate assumption, not the next meeting alone, drives positioning. The open question is whether an upside inflation surprise forces the market to collapse the pause and December hike into a single repricing, which would tighten conditions faster than the calendar implies.