What's the Endgame, Jerome?

He seems to be trying to "out-Volcker" Volcker... [Shield] AN OXFORD CLUB PUBLICATION [Liberty Through Wealth]( [View in browser]( SPONSORED [URGENT: New Income Opportunity Now Available!]( [Excited older wife and husband celebrating win]( Savings accounts are paying a paltry 2% at best... Long-term Treasurys are hovering around 4%... Heck, even the suddenly popular "I bonds" recently dropped back down to only 6%. All things considered, there aren't many good income options out there today. But what if I told you there's a way to put $50,000 cash in your pocket in 2023... without buying any new stocks, bonds, Treasurys or options? Sound too good to be true? I thought so too. [Until I saw this...]( EDITOR'S NOTE As Matt Benjamin describes today, the current path for interest rate hikes provides an unclear picture of what exactly the Federal Reserve's endgame is. But here's the thing... Even now, you are only getting half the story from the Fed. [Economist Larry Kudlow sat down with Chief Income Strategist Marc Lichtenfeld to discuss what he calls a "lethal combination" that could be coming.]( And if it hits, things might get much worse. Together, they explain [what's really going on behind the massive inflation we've been seeing](. And [in this exclusive conversation, Marc explains what investments you should be targeting now](. - Nicole Labra, Senior Managing Editor THE SHORTEST WAY TO A RICH LIFE [What's the Endgame, Jerome?]( [Matt Benjamin | Senior Markets Expert | The Oxford Club]( [Matthew Benjamin]( What's the endgame for Jerome Powell and his colleagues at the Federal Reserve? That's the biggest question making the rounds of Wall Street and other global financial capitals at the moment. That's because it has major implications for businesses, workers, consumers and investors (more on that below). And it's a very new question too. For most of 2022, the biggest questions for investors were about inflation. Basically, [how high will it go and when will it peak]( Now we know - with some degree of certainty - the answer to those. Inflation peaked in June at [a year-over-year rate of 9.1%](. You can see the inflation trend for 2022 in the chart below. [Peak Inflation]( Suddenly inflation is coming down across the board, with a significant slowing (called disinflation) in November. Here are the November highlights... - Energy inflation slowed to 13.1% in November from 17.6% in October. - Food inflation slowed to 10.6% from 10.9%. - The prices of used cars and trucks actually fell by 3.3% (that's deflation). - Only shelter (mortgages and rent) saw higher inflation last month, 7.1% versus 6.9% in October. Of course, inflation at 7.1% is still far above the Fed's stated target rate of about 2%. SPONSORED [Five Dividend Stocks to Buy Now (FREE INSIDE)]( Marc Lichtenfeld - income expert and author of Get Rich with Dividends - is giving away his Ultimate Dividend Package... Completely free of charge! Seriously, no credit card required. Inside, you'll get the names and ticker symbols of his TOP FIVE dividend stocks right now, including... - An "A"-rated, ultra-safe dividend stock with a huge 8% yield - Three of Marc's favorite "Extreme Dividend" stocks, which could supercharge your income - And finally, his No. 1 dividend stock for a LIFETIME of income. [Click here before the download link expires.]( Americans haven't seen inflation near this year's levels since the late 1970s - it peaked at nearly 15% in 1980. It's not that high today, but we still don't want the prices of things we buy to be rising more than 7% a year. And Powell doesn't either. He seems to be channeling former Fed Chairman "Tall Paul" Volcker, who in the early 1980s raised the Fed's target interest rate to nearly 20% to wring stubborn inflation out of the U.S. economy. He's been lionized for doing so. Just look at the current path of interest rates in the chart below (the black line)... [Changes to the Federal Funds Rate]( In fact, Powell seems to be trying to "out-Volcker" Volcker (Volcker's rate path is the dark blue line). But this is not the 1970s or '80s, or any other inflationary era for that matter (each is unique, of course). Sure, there may be too much consumer demand now compared with supply - just as there was then. But there has also been a global pandemic that severely constricted the supply of goods and services, a massive lockdown in the second-largest economy and manufacturer to the world (China), and a hot war in Europe. Higher interest rates will do nothing about those three issues. Too Fast [The futures market]( expects the Fed to hike its benchmark rate another quarter-point when it meets in early February. And then raise it another quarter-point in March. After that, the Fed is expected to pause. But I'm not so sure that's what Powell has in mind... At his press conference last week, Powell was asked whether the Fed might change its target inflation rate... perhaps shoot for inflation of 4% or so - which is much more realistic next year than 2%. "We're not considering that. We're not going to consider that. Under any circumstances," [he responded](. Pushing inflation all the way down to the Fed's stubborn 2% target could take a lot of time. Volcker could tell you that. After inflation peaked in 1980 at 15%, it didn't fall back below 3% until 1983. But from the chart above, it seems Powell wants to get back to 2% next year. Doing so would likely crash the U.S. economy and tank the stock market, put untold numbers of people out of work, and - due to the central position of the dollar in the global economy - do enormous damage to many other countries. The Fed needs an endgame other than "achieve 2% inflation next year or die." Let's hope Powell realizes that before it's too late... Invest wisely, Matt [Leave a Comment]( JOIN THE CONVERSATION [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [Email Share](mailto:?subject=A%20great%20piece%20from%20Liberty%20Through%20Wealth...&body=From%20Liberty%20Through%20Wealth:%0D%0A%0DHe%20seems%20to%20be%20trying%20to%20%22out-Volcker%22%20Volcker...%0D%0A%0D [Email Share](mailto:?subject=A%20great%20piece%20from%20Liberty%20Through%20Wealth...&body=From%20Liberty%20Through%20Wealth:%0D%0A%0DHe%20seems%20to%20be%20trying%20to%20%22out-Volcker%22%20Volcker...%0D%0A%0D MORE FROM LIBERTY THROUGH WEALTH [Top Secret]( [A "Secret" Income Source]( [Woke Culture Typewriter]( [Wake Me When We're No Longer "Woke"]( [Your Net Worth]( [It's Your Habits That Determine Your Net Worth]( [Reality vs Expectations]( [Living Well by Managing Your Expectations]( SPONSORED [The Forever Battery: Making Gas Guzzlers Obsolete]( [CMZ Battery]( Only 2% of cars sold in the U.S. today are electric vehicles... but that's about to change - FAST. 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