Powell's biggest problem, Musk is also unsolvable! The most deeply injured, of course...

Last night, the U.S. stock market changed, and the two major characters sang and I appeared.

Powell worried the market that the Fed might be forced to raise interest rates faster and harder than expected; Musk reassured investors that Tesla's fourth-quarter revenue was 7% higher than analysts expected, and the 30% gross margin of the auto business easily ranked first in the global auto industry, and the stock price did not fall too ugly.

However, the Australian Financial Review (AFR) notes that whether it is Powell who is riding a tiger or Musk who is proud of the spring, their biggest short-term worry is actually the same problem - the supply chain crisis.

Powell has begun to frantically hint that in response to inflationary pressures, the Fed will raise interest rates starting in March and does not rule out the possibility of raising interest rates at every meeting; Musk has also admitted bitterly that "with the supply chain becoming the main constraint, our own factories have been operating below capacity for several consecutive quarters, which may continue until 2022."

Against the backdrop of the steady expansion of the U.S. economy and the rapid growth of the electric vehicle industry, Tesla has already felt strong demand and beautiful profitability. But the supply chain problems the company currently faces, as well as price increases over the past year to protect profit margins, highlight that inflationary pressures have long since begun to build.

But will higher interest rates really help alleviate the supply chain crisis that is under pressure on Tesla and millions of other companies around the world?

AFR believes that although some long-term effects are expected on the demand side, interest rate hikes still cannot suddenly solve the congestion in the port, nor can it easily restore chip production capacity to pre-epidemic levels.

The further problem, however, is that in Powell's toolbox, the tools are limited. As things stand, even if the supply chain crisis can be eased in the second half of the year, and even if the U.S. economy recovers strong enough to benefit companies like Tesla, Powell still has only one option: act now!

So what does this mean for Tesla investors, or for the broader financial markets?

Whether the pace of the rate hike will hurt the market more seriously is a key question!

Since the beginning of the year, Tesla shares have fallen 22% as interest rate hikes crush the valuations of high-growth, high-valuation technology stocks. Powell hinted at this time that his concern about the trend of US stocks is completely inferior to the worry about runaway inflation.

The result is simple: although Powell has left a lot of room for discussion about the number of interest rate hikes this year, no matter what the Fed does, it is difficult not to think that this year's US stock market may usher in greater volatility and face more pain.