Riddle me this, my fellow contrarian. If the Federal Reserve is really tightening its balance sheet, then why is the stock market already up 10% on the year? Why is gold at all-time highs? And why is bitcoin going completely bonkers? The answer is “quiet QE.” As we discussed last summer in this column, Fed Chair Jay Powell’s words have sounded hawkish. He and his cronies talked tough about inflation. But look at their actions: the Fed has quietly provided ample liquidity to the financial markets. Which is why dollar hedges like gold and bitcoin have soared. This “Fed pivot” happened in the fal…