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December 22, 2021

By Michael O’Neill (apologies to Clement C Moore)

T’was days before Christmas and in many a home,

The creatures were suffering from Covid-syndrome.

N-95 masks were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes there were no omicron floating in air.

Financial markets were tumultuous, in a bit of a funk.

Confused bulls and bears got drunk as a skunk.

Another new variant this one worse than the last,

Is roiling stock markets which no one forecast.

They can’t blame “the Donald”, he has gone quiet,

Since being turfed from Twitter, after causing a riot

It’s Biden’s problem to fix, he sits in the chair.

Though, at his advanced age, he may not be all there.

The post-pandemic recovery was quite an eruption,

Until supply chains got broken and caused a disruption.

Ports became jammed and prices soared higher.

Analysts were fretting that inflation caught fire.

Not to worry said central bankers, including the Fed.

With one voice they shouted to put worries to bed,

“We have things under control, let me tell you a story.

Inflation’s no problem because it’s just transitory.”

Then in December there rose such a clatter,

When the Fed, BoE and ECB started to chatter.

Mr Powell transformed from a dove to a hawk,

Saying concerns of inflation are not such a crock.

He met with his colleagues and talked interest rates.

Deciding to hike them but not setting the dates.

“En-garde” said Lagarde, the Fed has it wrong,

Inflation is a rumour, you deniers run along.

The BoE’s Andy Baily went a step more

 He bumped the bank rate then ran for the door.

Economists were shocked, some traders surprised,

The British pound rallied as you may have surmised.

Economists were perplexed, flummoxed to be sure,

Saying “hiking rates with omicron” should never occur.

Their models forecast mayhem, chaos, and doom,

A definitive end to the post-pandemic boom.

Canadians were wondering where the Loonie would go,

Would it rise, would it fall, does anyone know?

BoC officials and Tiff said whatever the price,

 Be it $1.50 or $1.10,  it’s just a roll of the dice.

As Christmas got nearer and year-end also

Santa Claus arrived shouting “Ho Ho Ho Ho”

“Forget all the naysayers, and the negative throng,

 “They haven’t a clue, they’ve got it all wrong.”

“The stock market is robust, prices will rise,

Deficits don’t matter, regardless of size.

The governments can print money as long as there’s ink

Just go with the flow and don’t raise a stink.”

Then he sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a yell,

And away they flew like a bat out of hell,

But I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight

“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Agility Forex