After a March high, world markets are dipping again

Pretty much everything on the global market is falling, including everything from stocks and even oil, from shipping companies to chip producers. The main reason for it? The Fed.

Basically, the Fed is trying to tamp down on inflation rates, meaning they’re increasing interest rates, and there’s less cash out there. For the Fed, the worry is these rampant inflation rates could lead to a recession, which is, well, bad. But critics are worried that it’ll hurt economic growth.

Key comments:

“The common denominator in each case is the fear of recession, which has superseded the textbook effect of rising interest rates,” said Robert DeLucia, senior economic adviser at Empower, a retirement services company. “We are seeing a stampede into defensive stocks and an aversion to economically sensitive stocks.”

“Just two weeks ago Mr. Market was pricing a cyclical overheating story that the Fed would address while the longer-term growth and inflation expectations stayed the same,” said Dennis DeBusschere, the founder of 22V Research. “Brainard blew up the argument that Fed is unwilling to accept the risk of slowing inflation quickly, and markets reacted appropriately.”

“Don’t fight the Fed when the Fed is fighting inflation. The war in Ukraine has heightened the odds of higher-for-longer inflation, tighter-for-longer monetary policy, and recession in the U.S. and Europe,” said Ed Yardeni, the president of Yardeni Research.

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