Credit Stress Is Here And The Only Place Left To Hide Is Precious Metals | Danielle DiMartino Booth
Fed rate hike September 2026. Kevin Warsh raised rates and won't call conditions restrictive. Danielle DiMartino Booth on what that lands on.
>> Full Interview at Kitco News:
The
@federalreserve raised its benchmark rate a quarter point to 3.75% to 4% on September 16, unanimously, with 12 of 18 officials projecting at least one more increase this year. Chair Kevin Warsh called it removing "a dose of accommodation" rather than tightening, and said he'd be hard pressed to describe financial conditions as restrictive.
Danielle DiMartino Booth, founder of QI Research and a former advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, argues the opposite. She says US small business bankruptcies are up 64% year over year through August, that more than 200 companies have closed every month for five months running, and that 57% of Americans who took cash out refinancing in Q2 accepted a higher mortgage rate to do it.
On the data behind the decision, she says the seasonal adjustments at the Bureau of Labor Statistics are "clearly broken" and the official numbers are "at best misleading." On where that leaves investors, she says that whenever there is stress in credit markets, the only place you can hide with any certainty is precious metals.
Recorded September 16, 2026
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00:00 The Fed Just Hiked for the First Time in Three Years
01:26 Why Warsh Calling It "a Dose of Accommodation" Spooked Markets
03:03 Would the Fed Really Hike Again Days Before the Election
05:07 The Retail Sales Number That Isn't What It Looks Like
07:31 The Warning Shot Aimed at the Treasury
09:18 Small Business Bankruptcies Are Up 64%
11:00 The Fed and Main Street Are Looking at Two Different Economies
12:00 How a Margin Squeeze Becomes a Layoff
12:45 What This Hike Costs a Household This Week
16:15 The Only Place She Says You Can Hide With Any Certainty
17:37 Why She Says the Jobs Data Is Broken
19:07 What Breaks First if the Fed Got This Wrong