Overview
  • The S&P 500 made up ground and closed at all-time highs Monday despite the criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
  • Conventional market wisdom suggests that political turmoil can drive down stocks in the near-term as traders hedge bets.
  • Traders appear to be trying to decide what is a short-term flareup versus a long-term problem.

Stock investors largely shrugged off the criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell — the latest example of the market looking past political risk.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average initially tumbled nearly 500 points on Monday. Investors worried the probe represented a broader push by President Donald Trump to strip away the central bank’s autonomy in setting interest rates.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/14/stock-market-investor-powell-fed-sell-america.html