Did The Fed Just Pull The Rug Out From Underneath The Stock Market?

[FaninAma]

The just released minutes from last month's Fed meeting indicates that they may have to reduce or stop their QE program before the unemployment targets are hit. I suspect that they are becoming very concerned that their balance sheet is becoming very vunerable to a rise in Treasury note interest rates.

[Bourbon St Sooner]

Turn out the lights. The party's over.

[BigTip]

Here we go?
http://www.internationalrivers.org/files/styles/left/public/images/blog_entry/zachary_hurwitz/house-of-cards.jpg

[8timechamps]

We're going to find out soon. Really soon.


The sequester kicks in March 1st, which makes me question the timing of this information. This is exactly why the Fed should never have started this.

[FaninAma]

We're going to find out soon. Really soon.


The sequester kicks in March 1st, which makes me question the timing of this information. This is exactly why the Fed should never have started this.
I had the same thought. Did the Fed decide to announce this now so they could blame the sequester for any drop in the market or did they do it to cause an even larger drop in the market in order to pressure the GOP to cave on the sequester?

I think the Fed and its chairman have become very political. The announcement of QE3 a few weeks before the Presidential election was the biggest factor in Obama getting re-elected. Without that program the market falls and Obama loses the election.

[diverdog]

I had the same thought. Did the Fed decide to announce this now so they could blame the sequester for any drop in the market or did they do it to cause an even larger drop in the market in order to pressure the GOP to cave on the sequester?

I think the Fed and its chairman have become very political. The announcement of QE3 a few weeks before the Presidential election was the biggest factor in Obama getting re-elected. Without that program the market falls and Obama loses the election.

It had almost zero effect on the elections. In fact QE3 fit the Republican narrative that the economy was not doing well and Obama already had low marks on his handling of the economy. If anything Romney should have gotten a small boost.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

Buy on the dip, you dip****s!

[FaninAma]

It had almost zero effect on the elections. In fact QE3 fit the Republican narrative that the economy was not doing well and Obama already had low marks on his handling of the economy. If anything Romney should have gotten a small boost.

Please tell me you don't really think the announcement of QE3 in the first half of September had no effect on the markets leading up to the election. Without it equities would have corrected 10 to 15% minimum before the November. There were several articles indicating that by timing the announcement beore the election the Fed basically handed the election to Obama.

[FaninAma]

Buy on the dip, you dip****s!

Only after you are sure the dip has bottomed. I am already reading bizarre reports from "analysts" about how the UE rate increase, higher gas prices, and negative GDP is good news for the markets becuase it means QE5 is just around the corner.

The investment sector on Wall Street is starting to remind me of a bunch of drug addicted hookers begging their pimp (Bernanke) for one more hit of smack before they go into withdrawal.

[SoonerorLater]

Only after you are sure the dip has bottomed. I am already reading bizarre reports from "analysts" about how the UE rate increase, higher gas prices, and negative GDP is good news for the markets becuase it means QE5 is just around the corner.

The investment sector on Wall Street is starting to remind me of a bunch of drug addicted hookers begging their pimp (Bernanke) for one more hit of smack before they go into withdrawal.

I love these Wall Street shysters...err excuse me, analysts. If you listen to some of these CNBC shills there is never a bad time to buy stocks. The world is going to hell in a handbasket....perfect time to buy when there is "blood in the streets". The market is climbing? Momentum play...great time to buy. Every time I see some sunshine pumper like Jeremy Siegel on the TV I want to throw my shoe through the set.

[Bourbon St Sooner]

According to Wall Mart, their Feb retail sales are in the sh!tter on top of a bad holiday season. We're likely already in a recession. If Republicans are smart, they'll just restore all of the spending "cuts" in the sequester and let Obama take the blame. That's not what I would prefer they do, but that would be the politically smart thing to do. Of course, when's the last time the Republicans did something politically smart?

[badger]

According to Wall Mart, their Feb retail sales are in the sh!tter on top of a bad holiday season. We're likely already in a recession. If Republicans are smart, they'll just restore all of the spending "cuts" in the sequester and let Obama take the blame. That's not what I would prefer they do, but that would be the politically smart thing to do. Of course, when's the last time the Republicans did something politically smart?

From what I've heard, the Republicans and Democrats are very far off from middle ground at this point with about a week to go. Since neither side (especially Obama) has to worry about voter approval since we're at least a year off from the next election (and farther for some), I see neither side giving anything while trying to take it all.

As for economy being in the sh!tter recession depression, it already was. Consumers have no confidence in future job prospects, in the government, in their investment return potential. Thus, they're shutting their wallets and it's about d@mn time. Retailers have been doling out overpriced crap for far too long and it's about time we hold em as accountable as we pretend to hold our elected officials. Don't tell me that I can afford sh!t. Give me good reasons to buy sh!t.

[diverdog]

Please tell me you don't really think the announcement of QE3 in the first half of September had no effect on the markets leading up to the election. Without it equities would have corrected 10 to 15% minimum before the November. There were several articles indicating that by timing the announcement beore the election the Fed basically handed the election to Obama.

Obama won by a landslide. Face it Romney ran the worst campaign in modern history. That is why he lost along with some of those bat **** crazy candidates you ran. I never thought I would say this but thank God Karl Rove is taking on the Tea Party.

[FaninAma]

Obama won by a landslide. Face it Romney ran the worst campaign in modern history. That is why he lost along with some of those bat **** crazy candidates you ran. I never thought I would say this but thank God Karl Rove is taking on the Tea Party.

I didn't run anybody. I held my nose and voted for Romney because he actually has some qualifications for holding the office outside of being a life-long politician. And I am confident when I say that Obama will be the Democrat's version of George W. Bush except at the end of his 8 years in office he will look even more inept than George junior.

http://www.prepperpodcast.com/wall-street-insider-fed-obama-septemberoctober-surprise/#axzz2LZNSmYaL

[diverdog]

I didn't run anybody. I held my nose and voted for Romney because he actually has some qualifications for holding the office outside of being a life-long politician. And I am confident when I say that Obama will be the Democrat's version of George W. Bush except at the end of his 8 years in office he will look even more inept than George junior.

http://www.prepperpodcast.com/wall-street-insider-fed-obama-septemberoctober-surprise/#axzz2LZNSmYaL

Are you a prepper?

[8timechamps]

I had the same thought. Did the Fed decide to announce this now so they could blame the sequester for any drop in the market or did they do it to cause an even larger drop in the market in order to pressure the GOP to cave on the sequester?

I think the Fed and its chairman have become very political. The announcement of QE3 a few weeks before the Presidential election was the biggest factor in Obama getting re-elected. Without that program the market falls and Obama loses the election.

I don't think the timing of the announcement was pure coincidence, I believe it was a CYA move. I think the Fed has been political for quite a while, and absolutely believe the announcement of QE3 was made (at the time it was made) to support the Obama re-election.

[cleller]

According to Wall Mart, their Feb retail sales are in the sh!tter on top of a bad holiday season. We're likely already in a recession. If Republicans are smart, they'll just restore all of the spending "cuts" in the sequester and let Obama take the blame. That's not what I would prefer they do, but that would be the politically smart thing to do. Of course, when's the last time the Republicans did something politically smart?

I read an interesting item on Seeking Alpha about the Walmart "flash crash" Friday. This writer thinks the Fed is heavily involved in market manipulation. May be a whacko idea, but it is along the subject matter:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1205941-the-high-cost-of-backstopping-the-wal-mart-mini-crash?source=email_macro_view&ifp=0

[SanJoaquinSooner]

Only after you are sure the dip has bottomed. I am already reading bizarre reports from "analysts" about how the UE rate increase, higher gas prices, and negative GDP is good news for the markets becuase it means QE5 is just around the corner.

The investment sector on Wall Street is starting to remind me of a bunch of drug addicted hookers begging their pimp (Bernanke) for one more hit of smack before they go into withdrawal.

Unfortunately, the only way to tell the market has bottomed is from a far-sighted look in the rear view mirror. ... when you may be at a local max.

[Blue]

Obama won by a landslide. Face it Romney ran the worst campaign in modern history. That is why he lost along with some of those bat **** crazy candidates you ran. I never thought I would say this but thank God Karl Rove is taking on the Tea Party.

Its time everybody bail on the left - right paradigm. Like you won something? We are all losing. With the way things work in DC these days, Romney would've been just as bad. All of DC needs to be held accountable.

[Blue]

I read an interesting item on Seeking Alpha about the Walmart "flash crash" Friday. This writer thinks the Fed is heavily involved in market manipulation. May be a whacko idea, but it is along the subject matter:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1205941-the-high-cost-of-backstopping-the-wal-mart-mini-crash?source=email_macro_view&ifp=0

I thought the "Plunge Protection Team" was common knowledge. Of course they manipulate the market. Nothing can save them from a currency collapse though, which is where we are headed along with some war on the side.

[pphilfran]

I thought the "Plunge Protection Team" was common knowledge. Of course they manipulate the market. Nothing can save them from a currency collapse though, which is where we are headed along with some war on the side.
An 80 point drop in the Dow is not a steep sell-off...

[FaninAma]

Are you a prepper?
No. I have other skills.

[Blue]

An 80 point drop in the Dow is not a steep sell-off...

I wasn't necessarily talking about today.

[pphilfran]

I wasn't necessarily talking about today.

The writer of the article made that statement...

[FaninAma]

An 80 point drop in the Dow is not a steep sell-off...
It depends on the how the computer trading was programmed. If there was a coordinated effort to step into the breech and minimize the sell-off then an 80 point loss is significant.

[pphilfran]

Whatever...80 points ain't chit...the fed isn't concerned about a minor drop in the Dow...

[Blue]

Honest question and I dont mean to hijack the thread but why is gas the same price today at 95 a barrel as it was 4 years ago at 147 a barrel?

Is it related to the dollar? Buying oil in dollars? Hyper-inflation. It makes no sense to me.

[8timechamps]

I thought the "Plunge Protection Team" was common knowledge. Of course they manipulate the market. Nothing can save them from a currency collapse though, which is where we are headed along with some war on the side.

The Fed is the most influential of all market manipulators. Has been for a very long time.

[8timechamps]

Honest question and I dont mean to hijack the thread but why is gas the same price today at 95 a barrel as it was 4 years ago at 147 a barrel?

Is it related to the dollar? Buying oil in dollars? Hyper-inflation. It makes no sense to me.

It's the dealers that control the price per gallon. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter how much oil is priced per barrel, it's about what the dealers can set the market for the refined product.

There is not much rhyme or reason to price per gallon as it relates to per barrel cost.

[diverdog]

No. I have other skills.

So why did you link to a prepper website?

[FaninAma]

Whatever...80 points ain't chit...the fed isn't concerned about a minor drop in the Dow...
The Fed has been working like hell to prevent any drop in the markets. Did you read the article cleller linked? The only reason the markets haven't lost 3000 points is because of the Fed and other central banks. They are creating a huge bubble that will collapse within the next 12 months.

[Blue]

It's the dealers that control the price per gallon. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter how much oil is priced per barrel, it's about what the dealers can set the market for the refined product.

There is not much rhyme or reason to price per gallon as it relates to per barrel cost.

Thanks.

I also thought maybe they were trying to rid the market of inflationary dollars.

[Soonerfan88]

Honest question and I dont mean to hijack the thread but why is gas the same price today at 95 a barrel as it was 4 years ago at 147 a barrel?

Is it related to the dollar? Buying oil in dollars? Hyper-inflation. It makes no sense to me.

Part of it right now is the supply of refined gasoline. Some refineries are off-line for maintenance and others are retooling to start producing the lighter summer blend. That makes the winter gasoline blend more expensive, no matter the price of crude oil.

[diverdog]

Part of it right now is the supply of refined gasoline. Some refineries are off-line for maintenance and others are retooling to start producing the lighter summer blend. That makes the winter gasoline blend more expensive, no matter the price of crude oil.

They just closed a big refinery in NJ. Plus there is a lot of uncertainty in the ME.

[pphilfran]

The Fed has been working like hell to prevent any drop in the markets. Did you read the article cleller linked? The only reason the markets haven't lost 3000 points is because of the Fed and other central banks. They are creating a huge bubble that will collapse within the next 12 months.

I understand...the fed over the last several years has been pumping in a bunch of money that helps support the market...

I take exception to a couple of items...

First...this statement from the article... "The market responded logically with a steep sell-off on the Dow (DIA) starting from 13,984 at 2:01 and hitting bottom at 13,908 by 2:29."...a 76 point drop...a 76point drop is not a steep sell off....

Second...I may be wrong as wrong can be but I can't believe the fed would be so concerned about a 76 point drop in the Dow that it actually put systems in place to reverse that 76 point loss...

[cleller]

^^

Yeah, 76 points doesn't seem like much to me, either, but the idea of the Fed stepping in was interesting. 76 points in 28 minutes. I wondered if they could have systems monitoring for trends, etc. More likely, (if this scenario were true) they probably would have an analyst monitoring who might make the decision based on the "totality of circumstances". As in, "this is Walmart, if it goes, it could get ugly"....

Still don't know if I believe it or not. Will have to google around some.

[FaninAma]

So why did you link to a prepper website?
Google search. Why, are you the FBI?