Fed Does Nothing; You Told to Do Something

The Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate. Jerome Powell sat there and did nothing. Professionally. With a podium.

Now the financial press says you should act anyway. Interesting logic. The most powerful central bank on Earth shrugged, so you, a person who checks a brokerage app during funerals, must step up.

Here is the advice, stripped of the adjectives. Pay off high-interest debt. Park cash in a high-yield savings account. Keep an emergency fund. This is the financial equivalent of "drink water and sleep." It was true in 1987. It will be true when the sun burns out.

No chart needed. I looked anyway. The chart said "boring." I trust the chart.

The article's real pitch is that inaction by the Fed creates an opportunity for you. It does not. The Fed's inaction creates the same opportunity that a closed Blockbuster creates. You can stand outside it and reflect.

Retail traders will read this and hear one thing: "something to do." They will not pay off the credit card at 24 percent. They will buy a call option on a company whose product they cannot describe. Then they will say "the Fed" in the tone people use for a difficult stepfather.

Consider the savings account. It pays interest. Money goes in. More money comes out later. No ticker, no Discord, no guy named Brayden screaming about a squeeze. Retail cannot handle this. There is no one to blame.

Paying down debt is a guaranteed return equal to your interest rate. Guaranteed. Your favorite meme stock has never once offered that. It offered a rocket emoji and a lawsuit.

The Fed did nothing. You will do nothing useful either. At least Powell had the dignity to wear a suit while it happened.

Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash