The Fed Is Warming Up the Printer — Again

You know how some people swear they’ll stop ordering bubble tea to “save money,” but two weeks later, they’re back at Koi ordering a large brown sugar? That’s basically the Federal Reserve right now.

Back in 2024, I said the Fed would restart money printing in 2026. And look — 2026 is creeping up like a Monday morning. So… where are we now?

Surprise: The Fed themselves already dropped hints.
John Williams — the New York Fed President — casually mentioned in November that the Fed will “need to grow its balance sheet again.” That’s finance-speak for “we’re turning the printer back on soon.” He didn’t say maybe. He didn’t say sometime-later-lah. He said “not long.”

So yes, we’re very much on track for the Fed’s grand return to money printing in 2026.

Where Things Stand Right Now

Let’s keep things easy.

• Quantitative easing (QE) = printing money.
• Quantitative tightening (QT) = removing money.

These fancy terms are just the Fed making simple things sound complicated.

QT officially ends on December 1st. That’s confirmed — no guessing, no rumours, no auntie WhatsApp forwards.

During the pandemic, the government told millions of people to stay home. That torpedoed the economy, so they printed trillions. Prices shot up. Inflation went crazy. No choice.

Then they realised they printed too much (shocker), so for three years the Fed reversed course and drained money from the system — from USD 9 trillion down to USD 6.6 trillion.

Now they’re stopping the money-draining. And when the Fed stops tightening, the next step is almost always the same:
Turn the taps back on.

Even Jay Powell (the Fed chairman) and other Fed officials basically said reserves will need to rise soon. Dallas Fed President Lori Logan said if repo rates keep rising, the Fed must start buying assets again — another code phrase for printing money. Evercore thinks they might buy USD 50 billion monthly in Q1.

That’s not an accident — that’s prep work.

So Why Are They Doing This Now?

Good question.

It’s not because the economy is collapsing. It’s not because a crisis is happening. It’s because the money-plumbing system is starting to gurgle like a clogged toilet.

The financial system runs on reserves, repo markets, collateral, treasury bills — all these “pipes” need enough flow. If reserves drop too low:

• repo rates spike
• money markets break
• banks scramble for liquidity
• everything gets messy

We already saw this in:

• 2019 (repo crisis),
• 2020 (pandemic chaos),
• and now again in 2025.

So the Fed isn’t printing to “stimulate” the economy.
They’re printing to prevent the plumbing from exploding.

Still — whether they mean it or not — liquidity will flood the system. And when liquidity rises?

Boom:
Assets pump. Yields compress. Risk-taking increases. Markets get wild.

Are We Heading Into a Melt-Up? Honestly… Probably.

Ray Dalio — not exactly a random TikTok finance bro — warned that the Fed may be “stimulating into a bubble.”

And the ingredients are all there:

• high stock prices
• huge fiscal deficits
• sticky inflation
• upcoming money printing
• more liquidity
• and soon… a new Fed chair aligned with Trump

Here’s the spicy part:
Jerome Powell’s term ends in May 2026. His replacement will be chosen by — yes — President Trump.

Trump has already said the Fed should cut rates, support growth, and lower borrowing costs. So the next Fed chair will likely be more dovish. Meaning more tolerance for inflation.

And when you mix all of that together?
The recipe screams melt-up — a dramatic market surge before, eventually, an equally dramatic crash.

My Own View (Just Talking Straight With You)

Look, I’m no doomsday uncle shouting at clouds, but this whole setup feels like watching someone pile more and more mahjong tiles on a shaky table. Can hold… until it suddenly cannot.

The Fed insists this isn’t stimulus. But whether they say it or not, markets will move like it is.

Singapore-style takeaway:
When the tap turns on, water flows. Don’t argue with physics.

What You Can Actually Do With This Info

Here’s the practical stuff — the type you can actually use.

1. Follow the Liquidity, Not the Headlines

Markets don’t care if the Fed calls it:

• Reserve adjustment
• Technical operations
• Balance sheet optimization

All just “money printing” in disguise.

When liquidity rises, markets go up. Simple.

2. Don’t FOMO Into the Melt-Up

It won’t climb in a straight line.

Smart investors build positions on pullbacks — not at euphoric peaks.
The “buy high, cry higher” strategy is not recommended.

3. Diversify, please lah

Don’t be that guy who goes “I only buy crypto bro” or the one who only buys gold “because my grandfather says so.”

In a liquidity-driven market, everything might rise:

• stocks
• crypto
• precious metals

But we never know which will be the fastest horse.

Spread your bets. Don’t be hero.

4. Be Very Careful With Margin Debt

This one wipes out people even in bull markets.

If you borrow money to buy assets, a sudden drop can destroy your capital.
Example:

You invest $100k.
Use margin to buy $300k in assets.
Market drops 33%.
Your $100k — gone.
No second chance.

I’ve seen people lose everything because of margin. Don’t be next.

The Bottom Line

The Fed is revving up the money printer again — whether they call it QE, balance sheet expansion, or some fancy technical term.

When money flows back into the system:

• markets pump
• assets inflate
• inflation creeps back
• and eventually the cycle ends with another hard reset

You don’t have to predict the exact day.
You just need to recognise the pattern.

And honestly?
2026 is shaping up to be one very interesting, very chaotic financial year.

Stay sharp, stay diversified, and don’t over-leverage yourself.
Nobody wants to be the person wiped out right before the upswing.