By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)
Two years ago, I posted on X that the new normal for U.S. inflation in the post-COVID world is much higher than the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The market’s reaction to Tuesday’s hotter-than-expected U.S. core CPI report suggests a growing number of investors now share that view.
The data for July showed that annualized core CPI topped the 3% mark for the first time, primarily due to the effects of President Trump's tariffs. The Fed has only once cut interest rates when core inflation was above 3%.
Even so, bitcoin (BTC) rose by over 1% on Wednesday, and ether, often envisaged as an internet bond, jumped by over 8%. U.S. stocks also rallied as traders seemingly disregarded the inflation number and continued to price in a Septem