is below the 2% target so long it makes sense to let it run above the target for some time but dennis lockhart neither hawk nor dove suggested a rate hike is more likely this year. lockhart said serious consideration is being given to a rate hike at any of the three meetings between june and september. in the statement wednesday, fed gave two tests for a rate hike. first, further approval of the labor market and second confidence inflation moving back to target. economists believe that the strong dollar and lower oil prices could keep inflation falling through at least the early summer. assuming they don't decline much more from here. the fed's own forecast don't show much movement upward until 2016. >> you want to get through a period where you can see what inflation looks like after the transitory effect. >> reporter: the policy could come next week with a speech by vice chairman, stanley fisher and janet yellin friday. tuesday, maybe most important the government will release the federal consumer price index. economists look for a 0.2% rise that will only partially reverse the 0.7 decline i

. >> atlanta fed president dennis lockhart is also speaking today at the engage conference in detroit. the largest student investment conference. before he does that he'll sit down with steve at 8:30 a.m. eastern on squawk box. meanwhile charles evans continues to make the case for patience when it comes to rate hikes citing low inflation. i spoke with him after a speech in london he made and asked about the likelihood of a june rate hike. >> we're in so hurry that we should monitor the economic situations look for growth to continue. have confidence that we'll pick up to the 2% objective. i'd like to have confidence that inflation is going to be moving up. it's a challenging environment with the headline inflation down around 0 due to energy price declines and there's a lot of uncertainties and i think we would benefit from having more time to assess those fed policy continues to grab headlines. yesterday the fed downgraded the economic forecast and this highlights the growing concerns around the health of the u.s. economy. yesterday's number nothing to write home about. we had five

atlanta fed president dennis lockhart joins steve leisman for an interview. bs front. trading the selloff. richard bernstein and dennis gartman debating. and then jim cramer, what you expect on his radar. when "squawk box" returns. hey, girl. is it crazy that your soccer trophy is talking to you right now? it kinda is. it's as crazy as you not rolling over your old 401k. cue the horns... just harness the confidence it took you to win me and call td ameritrade's rollover consultants. they'll help with the hassle by guiding you through the whole process step by step. and they'll even call your old provider. it's easy. even she could do it. whatever, janet. for all the confidence you need td ameritrade. you got this. >>> welcome back everyone. atlanta fed president dennis lockhart will be speaking in detroit later this morning. but before he does, he joins our steve leisman for an exclusive interview. >> thanks very much. i am here with dennis lockhart at the engage conference which brings together 1300 students of finance around the country. thank you for joinin

atlanta it fed president dennis lockhart saying that a liftoff in the june, july, september meetingsre under serious consideration, these were comments that he made to reporters following a speech in georgia this morning. he is also saying the dollar represents a growing but still modest concern. he sees growth in the 2.5 to 3% range. context on lockhart. a r centrist followed closely because of that. not a hawk or dove. he has talked about the june to september period before but the first time i've seen these words under serious consideration, michele. associated with his comments. >> let's see what it does for the markets here if anything. thanks, steve. talk more about the rally and what steve was talking about as we. the move we see, is this a sign of the season to come, a ring by ring, kate moore what do you think? does it continue. >> we're pretty constructive on equities for the full year but i think we will have a lot of volatility around every bit of fed language. whether lockhart speaking now or fisher next week and a lot of speeches from participants a all throughout next

dennis lockhart talked about the prospect of handling higher borrowing costs. if you look at what's been going on here today, we are little changed now with the s&p 500 up and down. it is basically unchanged at this point. only the nasdaq is firmly in the green but this week selling has moved it farther away from its record high. i want to point out some of the victims from higher oil prices. that would be airlines. the bloomberg u.s. airline index declining by 1.25%. including american airlines off by 1.6% and jetblue losing 1.3%. alix: we will check back in with you later in the show. at any moment, senator john mccain will hold a news conference and is expected to address the ongoing crisis in yemen. we expect he will be critical of president obama. peter cook has more for us. peter: what we have heard from john mccain over the past 24 hours, he has first been very supportive of the saudi's and their airstrikes in yemen, their decision to launch those airstrikes against the militants, and highly questioning the administration over its strategy not just in ye

lockhart, the atlanta fed president, dennis lockhart earlier today saying serious consideration was being september. back to brian. >> sounds good steve. >> there you go. sure. >> thank you, steve. interesting stuff. could be next year could be june. the fed playing a mystery game. thank you very much. >>> meantime billionaire hedge fund making surprising comments about capitalism and the future of america. let us bring innin robert frank. what did he say gathering so much attention today? >> a lot of attention, brian. hedge fundamental billionaire one of the richest americans worth $4.6 billion saying the wealth cap is unsustainable and disastrous if unfixed. jones says current levels of inequality cannot and will not persist. history suggests it will fall in one of three ways. revolution higher taxes or war. none of my bucket list. the problem, he says a change in american companies. too focused on quarterly earnings profits and share prices and not focused enough on their broader role in society. here's what he said. he said we have ripped the humanity out of our companies and reduced

. >>> atlanta federal reserve president dennis lockhart says he expects the u.s.entral bank to raise interest rates at its june, july or september policy meetings. lockhart made the remarks in a speech at the university of georgia law school. lockhart also said the economy is giving some mixed signals with signs of strength and also signs of weakness. >>> and what a treat for millions in the uk. it is being touted as the best solar eclipse in years. darkness fell from the north atlantic to the arctic and ending at the north pole as the moon came between us and the sun. the next big eclipse not until 2026. it's hard to see, but take a look. president obama sporting a new accessory on his wrist this week. it's reportedly a fit bit surge. they go for about $250 and they come with a built in gps. it tracks your sleep, exercise and can play songs from your phone. but the president has also expressed interest in the apple watch. so we shall see. let's go back to "closing bell." bill, i'm not sure he needs the gps because secret service knows where he is all the time. >>

by the way sarah, i am sure you caught dennis lockhart's comments to me yesterday in detroit.d that picks up what was being said that he first thought when he started to consider the decline -- or the appreciation of the dollar. that's significant. i just don't really quite get how the bond market wouldn't go -- wouldn't pick up on that dovishness. maybe it's because it's already down. there's a transition going on and i think the encouragement the market heard last week was this notion that there was -- they were going to raise rates, but not in any hurry to do so very quickly or to do so very steeply. i'm guessing that's the encouragement the market has been getting fro janet yellen. >> i'm going to throw this final question out to aneeka. i hope you have a positive answer. it's friday. it's raining. it's technically spring. i hope you have good news. i have no idea what your answer to this question will be. should we believe that in six months time we will be able to get affirmative read that the u.s. economy is stronger then than it is today or will it be flat to weaker? >