Here's what actually went down in that meeting:

It started soft—really soft. Everyone thought we'd see dovish signals all the way through. Then midway, things got fuzzy. The tone shifted but nobody could pin down where it was heading.

By the final stretch? Full pivot to hawkish territory.

That sudden flip is exactly why markets nosedived the second the presser wrapped. People weren't freaking out over one rate cut—they were reacting to the subtext: future cuts just got a lot less likely. The forward guidance basically slammed the door on expectations that were already baked in.

Markets hate uncertainty. But they hate reversed promises even more.