The financial fake-out of 2023 extended into 2024 and is poised to continue pleasantly surprising investors. 

In a week filled with better-than-expected news, Bureau of Economic Analysis inflation data released Friday added weight to evidence that the Federal Reserve’s 12 interest rate hikes between March 2022 and July 2023 quashed a post-pandemic inflation crisis without choking growth and triggering a recession. Defying the Fed’s record for making bad monetary policy decisions and causing every recession in modern U.S. history — except for the short-lived but severe downturn after the Covid-19 outbreak in March 2020, the outlook remains bright.