Time to Raise Interest Rates?

Every Thursday on The Opening Bell from 9-10a.m. ET we have a segment with what we call a "Market Maven." This week we talked to Sam Stovall, the chief investment strategist of Standard & Poor's. We talked about Dallas Fed President Fisher's comments last night. Fisher said the Fed may need to do an about-face a raise rates if inflation fears persist. We also talked about the historical context for when the Fed raises rates after a period of cutting rates. Pretty interesting stuff!

I'm not suggesting the Fed will do this right away, but after yesterday's durable goods number and today's GDP number and what we are seeing in the Treasury market with 10 year note yields, one has to wonder if the bigger issue is inflation rather than slowing growth. I think we will be headed toward higher rates and that the Fed is done. Now it's the Fed's job to orchestrate a recovery on the inflation front while oil sits at new high's, housing remains weak and disappointing with no near term signs of bottoming out and the dollar sits stagnant waiting for the rest of the economies and Europe to catch up with us and give people a reason to believe in a strong dollar.