Quick Read – Today’s 3.64% Federal Funds Rate mirrors August 2001 levels, just before the Fed cut rates and the S&P 500 fell 12%. – A 2001-style 12% decline would now erase $8.6 trillion in wealth from retirement accounts, pensions, and college savings plans nationwide. – Warsh…
st balance 3.8% inflation, which is well above the Fed’s 2% target, against a cooling labor market with shrinking room for error. – The analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks. Get them here FREE
The stock market has spent much of 2026 climbing a wall of worry. Artificial intelligence is reshaping industries, corporate earnings continue to surprise to the upside, and the S&P 500 keeps pushing deeper into record territory. Yet beneath the surface, investors face a familiar question: Is the Federal Reserve already behind the curve?
That question matters because history rarely repeats perfectly, but it often rhymes. Today’s Federal Funds Rate sits at 3.64%, according to Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED). Surprisingly, there is only one period in modern history when rates were nearly identical: August 2001, when the Federal Funds Rate stood at 3.65%.