"The Unexpected Success of the Runner-Up: What Comes Next?"

Time magazine's person of the year finalist, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, seems to have successfully achieved a soft landing for the U.S. economy after a rate hike campaign. Despite concerns of a potential economic downturn, the jobs data for November showed that the U.S. economy created 199,000 jobs. Ed Yardeni, chief investment strategist at Yardeni Research, argues that the Fed has been normalizing monetary policy rather than tightening it, suggesting that interest rates may not be lowered as much as expected. Yardeni also highlights the resilience of the economy and predicts a strong growth rate for the next two years, with the S&P 500 potentially reaching 5,400 by the end of 2024.