explain the significance of those comments and why they are affecting the markets the way they are. the fed is probably in one of if not the most difficult positions it s been in in years now, east of the rock, west of the hard place. they have to figure out which is more important. is it the battle against higher prices and supply chain issues, causing that inflation? or is it trying to protect the economy overall from the possibly effects of this new omicron variant and the possible slowdown that can happen? there s two different policy tacks that go in two different directions if you re trying to fight either one of them. if you are trying to fight inflation and higher prizes caused arguably by the pandemic, what you do is you take money out of the system, you raise interest rates, you remove that stimulus. that will fight higher prices. but if you re fearful that the