Trump likely to name Fed chair by early November: source familiar

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has a pool of five candidates to choose from for the next chair of the Federal Reserve and is likely to announce his choice before going to Asia in early November, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.

Trump has an interview scheduled on Thursday with current Fed Chair Janet Yellen, whose term expires in February. She is one of the five candidates, the source said.

The others consist of his chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn, along with former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, Fed Governor Jerome Powell and Stanford University economist John Taylor.

By the time Trump meets with Yellen, he will have had meetings with all five of the candidates, the source said.

The source said announcing the choice by the time Trump leaves for Asia on Nov. 3 would give the Senate time for the confirmation process.

In a Reuters poll of 40 economists taken during the past few days, a slim majority said they expected Powell - a lawyer and former investment banker who has served as a member of the Fed's Board of Governors since May 2012 - would get the nod.

The next most likely choice was Kevin Warsh, who served as a Fed governor during the financial crisis.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)