The Fed may merge Policy and Inflation

Gold (purple) vs S&P

With the Fed minutes today, we are seeing more evidence of the policy and inflation being intertwined. The Fed mentioned that while markets are looking at lower taxes and more fiscal expansion, it is difficult for them to asses the inflation levels that will come through 2017 and beyond. The minutes have shown the vast majority of Fed officials wanted more information on the policy front before taking action in January.

​It will be interesting to see if inflation expectations create a self fulfilling cycle and the Fed is forced to raise rates into an environment that doesn't see fiscal stimulus come. This would no doubt see a re-pricing in the markets, specifically commodities and emerging markets which are participating in this broad rally perhaps unjustly.

On the other side of the spectrum, which the minutes seem to have alluded to, is the Fed holding back on rates due to the uncertainty. This could cause inflation to get ahead of the 2% target and see the Fed either have to aggressively increase rates, shocking the markets, or being seen as behind the curve. This could explain the rise in gold along side the S&P500 along side the markets in 2017.

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