 But many market watchers remain optimistic for a variety of reasons, including the growing conviction that interest rate cuts will come sooner rather than later. That's what former Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart says he hears when he listens to Fed officials these days. They seem to be expressing openness to a rate cut in the near future. That could be September, it could be November or December. But they're certainly not disabusing the markets that that could happen.