let s talk to steve more about this. steve, the problem is inflation is at decades high. recession around the corner. it s a heck of a one-two punch. you better believe it. the good news is that the inflation rate has come down a little bit the last two or three months, charles. that s good news. we went from almost 9% inflation this past summer to now we re down to about 7.1%. as you just said, that is still the highest inflation rate we ve had in 35, 40 years. so americans are feeling the punch. their wages and salaries have only gone up by 5 or 6%. that s one of the reasons that you reported that credit card debt is going up. people are trying to maintain their standard of living but paychecks are not keeping pace. i m nervous. i think inflation will come down in 2023 from the high rates of 2022. but i also think that the economy shows real signs of slowing down. i pray we don t crash into a recession. but we sure could. charles: steve, that s what i m concerned about.
as long as the fed continues to reduce its balance sheet and raises rates. the biggest concern is the economy is divided. they re paying crazy interest rates on their credit cards. even though inflation has come off of its 9% peak and we re at 7.1, that means prices are still increasing alongside of the interest rates on their debt. the upper 40%,their assets look better after the october rally. now we have a santa claus rally. so it s about the divided economy. of course, larry, when it comes to the federal reserve, we know they have been adamant. they re out there. every time they get a chance to speak, they re trying to jaw bone the markets lower. they still want to stick to the interest rate hikes. is there a slim chance that maybe the bark is worse than their bites, maybe we ll get a