Personally, I think people will find a reason to justify their feelings, and I think the feelings since at least 2020 are that “a recession is imminent.” Nobody wants to be caught with their pants down, least of all FAANG, but when money was “virtually free” (Fed’s emergency interest rate drop to 0%) that was physically impossible. Now that interest rates are closer to where they probably should be and borrowing money isn’t really worthwhile if it can be avoided…. A recession is imminent.

The Fed’s soft landing may have done more harm than good in the long-run. Is delaying a recession (which by the way is a healthy part of any economy) really the preferred route when the economy has already had a record bull market? Now we’re in this weird limbo where the stock market and U-3 unemployment rate say “the economy is great!” and yet everything else seems to indicate the middle and lower classes are struggling at levels not seen since ~2009.