Here at Market Minute,<\/em> we’ve been talking about the Fed’s policy mistake throughout 2021<\/a> and this is exactly what we meant.<\/p>\n Bullard must have seen recent data showing the Consumer Price Index (CPI) coming in at 7% and the Producer Price Index (PPI) coming in at 9.8% – both at multi-decade highs.<\/p>\n What’s more troubling is that the spread between the two measures is now widening.<\/p>\n Meaning producers are paying even more for materials and faster<\/em> than what consumers are paying, which is a proxy for profit margins on a national level. And the wider the spread, the less they earn – and the more they try to pass down to us, the consumers.<\/p>\n Surprisingly, there are now calls within the Fed to up the ante and hike rates four time<\/em>s this year.<\/p>\n As you may have realized, I’m not a fan of the Fed. They’ve strayed from their dual mandate of max employment AND controlling inflation.<\/p>\n And they’re just now starting to wake up.<\/p>\n That’s because they rely on stale data. And they also rely on economic theory, <\/em>which is often unproven and misguided… especially while they’re perched atop Washington’s ivory towers.<\/p>\n From that vantage point, they can’t possibly see in real time what Lael Brainard admitted months too late at her Fed Vice Chair confirmation hearing today, “Working people around the country are concerned about how far their paychecks will go.”<\/p>\n Where was the concern from the Fed last year?<\/p>\n Although it’s a step in the right direction, the damage may have already been done.<\/p>\n The Fed should seriously consider taking out the inflation part of their mandate and substituting it with “keeping Wall Street happy.” It would be more reflective of reality.<\/p>\n With all this about-face from the Fed, it’s no wonder the market is off to a rocky start in 2022 with tech leading the way down – the biggest benefactor of their ultra-loose monetary policy.<\/p>\n But not all stocks and sectors are getting hit… some are making all-time highs.<\/p>\n Commodities picked up where they left off in 2021… rising 5.5% to start the year.<\/p>\n The inflation trade continues to rage forward.<\/p>\n And right now, metals have the spotlight.<\/p>\n Especially copper (with the lowest inventories in almost 50 years), which has the entire market paying attention to it once again.<\/p>\n To understand why, take a look at this chart of the dollar (DXY)…<\/p>\n Free Trading Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n Have you checked out Jeff’s free trading resources on his website? It contains a selection of special reports, training videos, and a full trading glossary to help kickstart your trading career \u2013 at zero cost to you. Just click here<\/a> to check it out.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Copper miners are one of the commodity-related recommendations<\/a> we mentioned on November 9. And one of my favorite companies to play this trend is FCX.<\/p>\nThis Metal Keeps Going Higher<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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