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“There is nothing wrong with change.” – Joe Maddon

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Seven years ago today, the world woke up to what had been previously thought impossible as the Cubs won the World Series for the first time in 108 years.  In typical Cubs style, they didn’t make it easy on themselves; the win came in extra innings of game seven…after a rain delay!  There was a lot of excitement in Chicago on November 3, 2016, but no one was happier than Steve Bartman who became the scapegoat of the team’s collapse in game six of the 2003 NLCS when the Cubs blew a 3-0 lead in the eighth and then went on to lose in game seven after blowing a 5-3 lead and losing 9-6 to the Marlins.

The Marlins then went on to win the World Series in six games over the Yankees.  Naturally, since the Cubs should have beaten the Marlins, who then went on to beat the Yankees, the Cubs should have won the World Series, and it was all Bartman’s fault. It makes perfect sense, and if you ask any Met fan, they’ll agree.

While not quite as impressive as the Cubs winning the World Series, the market did what seemed impossible on Wednesday by rallying at least 1% on a Fed Day and then rallying more than 1% the next day as well.  Fed days lately have been anything but bullish, and like clockwork, you can usually depend on the market selling off right when Chair Bartman steps up to the podium.  Wait, does that say Bartman? On Wednesday, though, the S&P 500 traded higher into the press conference and then kept rallying from there and finished near the highs on both days!

In reality, the S&P 500’s two-day rally on Wednesday and Thursday was only the strongest gain on a Fed Day and the day after since the day of and day after the July 2022 meeting.  Just like Bartman, Powell probably doesn’t deserve all the blame, but just like Cubs fans when things didn’t go their way, investors are always looking for a scapegoat, and Powell has become the obvious choice.  As bad as it has been for Powell over the last two years during this hiking cycle, at least he can go out to dinner this weekend without fearing the mob. It took Bartman 13 years!

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