The Fed Is Starting to Break Things. The Stock Market Is Paying the Price.

The stock market desperately wants to put in a low. The Federal Reserve won’t let it.

You wouldn’t know that from looking at the market this past week. On the one hand, U.S. economic data remains strong, as jobless claims fell below 200,000 for the first time since May, a sign that the Fed will have to keep raising interest rates to slow down inflation. On the other hand, the rest of the world seems on the verge of imploding, with the mess in the United Kingdom serving as Exhibit A.