Communication at the Federal Reserve, particularly at the highest levels, rarely happens by accident.

Messages that come out of the top echelon, particularly the chair, vice chair and the powerful New York Fed president, are measured carefully, calibrated between delivering clear ideas about policy without causing undue reaction in financial markets.

That's why a speech Friday from the current New York Fed leader, John Williams, mattered so much to markets. With his position comes membership in the Fed's leadership troika, a group that also includes Chair Jerome Powell and Vice Chair Philip Jefferson.

So when Williams gave a nod to the likelihood of a "further adjustment in the near term" for interest rates, investors took it as a message from on high that the leadership is inclined

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