🏦The Fed cut rates again last week, and the reaction was "meh."
Jerome Powell pulled the trigger one more time, slicing rates from 4.00% to 3.75%.
Romeo, is this "Boo-yah"? Nope!
Mr. Market responded like a kid with too many toys: unimpressed and still whining for more. Because no sooner had J‑Pow sat down to finish his sentence, Wall St. leaned in and whispered, “Daddy... December too, right?”
Embracing his inner "Tall Paul" Volcker (minus the cigar and spine), he mumbled something about "driving through fog."
Translation: There's no cut coming in December, because I don't know what's going on... and neither do you.
The Highlights (minus the Fed-Speak)
✔️ Yes, they cut. 3.75% is the new benchmark. But no one’s waving “Mission Accomplished” signs.
⚠️ Market shrugged. Rate cuts usually juice stocks, but this time the S&P blinked.
🧭 Another cut? December cut is far from certain. Wall Street hates "maybes" almost as much as taxes.
📊 Missing data. The government shutdown delayed key economic reports.
🔄 Risk‑management mode. The Fed’s playing defense: trying not to crash the job market or let inflation sneak back.
🧠Romeo, didn't this happen in the 70s? Why's it different this time?
It feels a little ‘70s-ish, but there's a big difference between inflation then, and now.
Back then: banks were lending like it was Studio 54. Boomers were coming of age, and easy credit was everywhere. In the 70s, it was the private-sector boom that drove inflation.
Today: it’s Uncle Sam with the credit card. Stimulus. Pandemic payouts. Trillion-dollar deficits like it’s a TikTok trend.
So Tall Paul could spike interest rates, and the banks would stop lending, and thereby inflation would tap-out.
J Pow can't do that, because even if he does, Congress won't stop spending.
As my old nostalgic Board Ape bros used to tweet:
NGMI.