Fed Chair Powell’s remark about the stock market is not breaking news 🗞️

During a Q&A on Tuesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell made comments about financial conditions that caught the attention of stock market watchers.

“By many measures, for example, equity prices are fairly highly valued,” he said.

Barron’s, CNBC, and Yahoo Finance were among financial news outlets that featured the language in headlines. Various accounts on X pointed out that Powell’s statement preceded a sell-off in the stock market. The S&P 500 shed 0.55% on Tuesday.

Market watchers often perk up when they hear Fed chiefs talk about the stock market, because it reminds them of when former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan used the phrase “irrational exuberance” to describe the stock market before the dot-com bubble popped.

Were Powell’s comments on Tuesday a warning for investors?

I have some thoughts.