For years, equity markets have leaned on the “Fed Put” – the belief that the central bank would reliably inject liquidity at the first sign of trouble. Warsh, however, is a vocal critic of the Fed’s tendency to “pamper” markets.
With one exception, the trends in December continued in January. Headline business conditions continued to indicate contraction, but at a decelerating rate.
The price of silver plummeted by over 30% on Friday, marking a historic drop. This drastic fall was attributed to a strengthening US dollar and investor reactions to President Trump's Fed pick.
Within hours of the Fed's announcement, gold surged 7% to a fresh all-time high of $5,500. This reaction was not on a rate cut. It was on a hold. The most boring possible outcome pressed gold to one of its biggest single day moves in years.
Talk of tokenization, cloud finance, and algorithmic markets can make physical ownership feel outdated. Yet tangible assets remain the portion of a balance sheet you can touch, transport, and typically insure, and they still play a role even when digital assets dominate headlines.
This week reinforced a key message for investors: markets are transitioning from broad AI enthusiasm to a more disciplined phase where earnings quality, capital efficiency, and macro resilience matter more than narratives.
The big sell-off in gold and silver on the news of the Warsh nomination is an overreaction and doesn’t reflect any real change in the economic or financial landscape.
Although M2 money supply recently notched a fresh all-time high, the expansion of M2 hasn't been able to keep pace with Wall Street's tech-fueled rally -- and that's a problem.
In January 2026, economists find that tariffs contributed ~1.1–1.4% to annual inflation. While median households face $1,400 in extra annual costs, the impact is less than feared due to implementation lags and exceptions.
