That Was a Lot of Sound and Fury for a 0.0% Return
Stocks have completed a perfect round trip since Jerome Powell’s hawkish comments. At least he kept traders and commentators busy.
This tale signified nothing, Jerome.
Photographer: Donaldson Collection/Moviepix/Getty Images
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Should we all have taken the past week off? Last Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee’s regular meeting produced a notable shift in a hawkish direction, which was confirmed in the later press conference given by Jerome Powell, its chairman. In a departure from previous communications, he speculated that unemployment, not inflation, might prove transitory. There followed a sharp fall in bond yields, and in inflation breakevens, while stocks gave up ground.