Powell’s pivot on inflation turns the trader pandemic playbook on its head

The market is facing a conundrum. 

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has thrown a monkey wrench into the investor playbook. Investors have been worried they will get hurt by the omicron variant further slowing growth and exacerbating supply chain issues, and they have been buying tech and selling cyclicals. 

Now Powell has served notice that because of omicron and continuing supply chain issues, they are getting more hawkish.

Powell may have been using omicron as an excuse to get rid of a policy (“transitory”) that was no longer useful,…