Jim Bianco, founder of Bianco Research, analyzed that the voting landscape is highly contested ahead of the Federal Reserve's September 16 FOMC meeting. Following recent remarks from Fed Governor Waller indicating a preference for maintaining interest rates, Bianco has tallied the current votes as 6 (hold) to 5 (hike), with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's vote remaining unknown and thus becoming the critical swing factor. Bianco believes this effectively makes the probability of a September rate hike 50/50.