There’s plenty of uncertainty in the markets as the Federal Reserve looks to end the most aggressive interest-rate hiking cycle in decades. But one thing seems clear: We’re not going back to the ultralow-rate environment that prevailed before the pandemic.
Inflation may be cooling, but it isn’t going away. Interest rates will probably settle at higher levels than held sway from 2009 through 2021. In other words, the market is returning to more normal conditions than we’ve seen since the 2008-09 financial crisis.
