Remember the “Soup Nazi” from Seinfeld? Well, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell channeled his inner “Soup Nazi” with an emphatic “No rate cuts for you” last Wednesday.

What is needed to get back on track? I believe the Fed needs to stop raising rates. It’s not a magic solution; if the Fed stops raising rates, things won’t automatically revert back to all good or normal. We need to get government spending in line, and the consumer needs to get healthy again before that can happen.

Maybe Lionel Ritchie was on to something. It would seem this story shouldn’t be a story, but given today’s political climate, here we are.

Hiring has been strong this year, especially at restaurants and retailers. But is there a change coming?

We rounded the corner into a new year, and stocks ended the first full week of 2023 on a high note, with each of the three major markets up more than 2% on Friday.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Jan. 30 - Feb. 5, 2022
• Meta’s faceplant!
• The jobs conundrum and the Fed

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Jan. 2 - 8, 2022
• New year, old problems — and same solutions
• Jobs, narrow markets and inflation
• 7 companies constitute 25% of the S&P 500

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Nov. 28 - Dec. 4
• Omicron smacks markets around
• In the end, interest rates and profits drive stocks
• Where do we go next?

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Oct. 31 - Nov. 6
• The Fed makes its move
• Infrastructure done amid off-cycle election fallout
• Jobs return?

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Oct. 3 - 9
• More debt ceiling drama
• So you’re telling me there’s a chance?
• Jobs return?

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: Aug. 29 - Sept. 4
• Cleaning up the damage from Afghanistan and Hurricane Ida
• Jobs data points to what we’ve been saying: Things are slowing down
• September is here — but where’s the volatility?

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: August 22 - 28
• Big spending plans rammed through as Afghanistan unravels and gets deadly
• Experts miss on GDP estimates … again
• Markets continue to drive upward despite mounting negative news