NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A bunch of folks from the Federal Reserve are set to give speeches today and what traders will be waiting to hear is what they say about inflation.

The minutes of the Fed's December 14 meeting, released a week and a half ago, contained references to some possible upward pressures on inflation, which were seized upon by some financial market types as a sign the Fed is getting more worried about it and is looking to speed up the pace of rate hikes.

Now, these same minutes also contained statements about forces that would keep inflation subdued, but they didn't make as many headlines it seems. Another thing that got the inflation worriers agitated were reported comments by Bill Poole, head of the St. Louis Fed, that the Fed could move faster in raising rates if it needed to.

A statement of obvious fact or a warning?

Some nervous bond traders took it as the latter. That's why today's speeches will be scrutinized for any sign the Fed is truly trying to send a signal that it's ready to shift into higher gear on its rate hikes. Or, if it's just reminding the world that it remains in its usual stance of monitoring inflation pressures, and is satisfied that regular, small interest rate hikes are enough to keep price pressures under control.

-- Kathleen Hays is economics correspondent for CNN and contributes to Lou Dobbs Tonight.