Friends
Call it the case of the battling financial news organizations. After a Wall Street Journal columnist hinted that the message from this week’s Fed meeting will be that Dr. Bernanke and crew will not be hasty in taking the punch bowl away (which led to a hefty 180 point Dow rally this morning), a Financial Times columnist, not to be outdone, indicated that the Fed is, indeed, more inclined to begin the “tapering” process sooner than later. This of course sent stocks in the other direction and the Dow fell to a mere 40 point gain on the day.
By the close, stocks recaptured some of their earlier gains and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 109 points to finish the day at 15,180. The S&P 500 was up 12 points to close at 1639. Gold was down $3 to trade at $1384 per ounce, while oil was down $.03 to trade at $97.82 per barrel WTI.
Let’s keep in mind that this “tapering” that market participants are so concerned about, is simply the process of slowing down the amount of bond purchases that the Fed is making on a monthly basis. No, we are not talking about taking the punch bowl away, we are just saying that the Fed is discussing when they should begin the process of pouring less punch into the bowl on a monthly basis. Yes, it’s official, market participants have lost their mind. God forbid we could actually discuss economic growth, employment, earnings and other mundane subjects. Yes, the next couple of days should be interesting. Perhaps what Dr. Bernanke has for breakfast tomorrow will clue us into what the next 100 point move on the Dow will be.
Have a nice evening everyone.
