The Watched Pot Boils
The Fed made news on September 17, announcing a half percent drop in the fed funds rate. Headline after headline proclaimed “the first rate cut in four years,” but we should remember that rates were at or very near zero until March of 2022, when it appeared that the pandemic-driven inflation had gotten out of hand. Between that March and July of 2023, the Fed raised rates 11 times. This latest rate cut signals that the Fed now perceives a recession to be a bigger threat than rising prices. Investors may wonder what the impact of fed rate changes may have on their portfolio, so with this blog, we seek to provide some historical perspective.
