The last Jackson Hole meeting was hugely anticipated, and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated that he would stay true to the current approach to tame inflation. The market reacted with a sharp sell off. Why? Because some were expecting the Fed to return to a loose monetary policy at the slightest economic weakening. January 4th, we heard from the Feds that any pivot prediction is misguided.
It is important to recognize that there are more important factors that drive stock prices than Fed policy – corporate earnings and greed actually impact prices far more!
While I agree that the Fed policy can and does impact economic activity, it is company earnings, economic growth, geopolitics, sentiment, innovation, and global economic trends that will certainly play a bigger role in our economic future and support higher lasting market valuations.
It appears that the media and market participants are fixating on every Fed utterance. Do not follow their lead. We are expecting a cool market over the next months, but inflation appears to be responding. If we stay the course and not return to easy money, we may recover without stagflation and the economic downturn associated with it.
Edi Alvarez, CFP®
BS, BEd, MS