Powell's Fed: Good for Stocks, Bad for Your Wallet? The Truth Revealed

Are you better off since Jerome Powell took over as chair of the Federal Reserve Board on February 5, 2018? From an investor's perspective, the answer is yes. Over the past eight years, the central bank and markets have faced a pandemic, economic shutdowns, financial market instability, and the biggest inflation surge in over four decades. Despite all this, Kevin Warsh is taking over the Fed after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit record highs. $10,000 invested in the State Street SPDR S&P 500 exchange-traded fund on Powell's first day would have more than tripled. However, gains in gold have surpassed the AI-powered stock run. The rise in stocks and gold has mirrored the expansion of the Fed's balance sheet. The Fed's assets more than doubled from when Powell took the reins to their peak in March 2022. Asset prices have risen along with this liquidity expansion. Fixed-income investors didn't benefit. The massive monetary expansion also led to an inflation surge, peaking at over 9% in 2022. Powell defended the Fed's independence from attacks. Powell's fight with the administration hasn't affected Americans as much as affordability woes. Inflation has missed the Fed's 2% target. The core personal consumption expenditures index was up 3.2% in the latest 12-month reading. The surge in inflation was facilitated by a change in the Fed's inflation-targeting practice. Vincent Reinhart agrees that the shift paved the way for the Fed's mistake in thinking the inflation surge was