My salute to Big Ben

[semtex]

Big Ben, you are my hero.
The market is dancing under your finger.
A happy 200 DOW with a double dose.
Why worry, you still have 19 left.


Some comments on the rate cut?

 

[HFWR]

Jim Rogers was on Squawk this morning, giving BB hell, declaring that we're already in recession, but that the Fed should raise rates...

Also recommended buying farm commodities, hard currencies, and China...

As for me, whew, I hope this stems the bleeding a bit, 'cause there's too much money sloshing around already, waiting to bubble up somewhere else...

 

[semtex]

One thing is sure, dollar will go ****.

 

[brewer12345]

I was surprised they did 50 BP. I thnk they needed to, but that they would be too worried about proving their inflation-fighting credibility.

Good for them. They can always take it away later if the stimulus is no longer needed.

 

[twaddle]

I don't think the cut will do much, but it's nice to see the markets party for a day. It's hard to figure out how big the fallout will be from the various messes we're in. Will I someday wish that I had sold on this day? Who knows....

I'm thinking about buying some NZ dollars, though.

 

[Nords]

I was surprised they did 50 BP.

Haven't seen this for a while. Every time I refreshed my screen the Dow was up 20 points. The daytraders must've been going nuts!

KRE's up over 3.5%. I hope the regional banks don't screw up this free boost.

I guess we're not going to see 5% CDs for a while, let alone anything approaching 6%...

 

[FinanceDude]

I guess we're not going to see 5% CDs for a while, let alone anything approaching 6%...

Lock in those CD's now........

 

[semtex]

Dollar is even with Canadian dollar. Gold 720. Oil 80. Milk 4/G.

But inflation is under control.

 

[Nords]

Lock in those CD's now........

I think the time to do that was pretty much anywhere during the last six months!

 

[twaddle]

Still plenty of CD's looking good. 5.7% at IndyMac, for example.

CD Thread, Post The Best Rates You Can Find Here!

The fed cut doesn't change longer-term rates much. China does that for us.

 

[Sandy]

just got out of meetings and saw this thread. i had missed the news, so I just checked accounts. Yeah, a party. Wonder how long it will last - next earnings or employment figures maybe.

 

[packrat44]

I was surprised they did 50 BP. I thnk they needed to, but that they would be too worried about proving their inflation-fighting credibility.

Good for them. They can always take it away later if the stimulus is no longer needed.

Agree. I was expecting 25 BP, but no more.

 

[W2R]

I am really surprised, too. I thought there might be a cut, but I was not expecting a big one like this.

Should be interesting/educational to watch what ensues.

 

[Bikerdude]

I guess we're not going to see 5% CDs for a while, let alone anything approaching 6%...

Bought a couple of 1 yr. CD's through Schwab at 5.05 today prior to 2:15. Rates have come down over the past few days. The 2 & 3 yr. were even less. I guess the Banks are expecting more cuts.

 

[MasterBlaster]

The jump we saw in the indices today may just be due to the traders covering their short positions.

That jump may just disappear tommorrow.

I guess we will see now won't we.

 

[haha]

I feel like I can't really predict what might or might not happen. But it stretches my credulity to think that dropping one interest rate in one country can cure the various problems that we are seeing. Note also that Easy Al is bugging Ben daily with reminders of all the hazards that he faces, and all the errors that he might make.

I dumped many of the stocks this afternoon that I bought in mid August. They may keep right on rising, but in my mind they are not really cheap and thus would very likely suffer price reversals in a recession. I prefer to sell before everyone has reached this conclusion.

Remember that Al lowered rates all through the extensive stock price collapse in 2000-2002, and the collapse still went on. I prefer liquidity at this point- but I may just be getting old and over cautious.

Ha

 

[barbarus]

Good for equities (for now).

Bad for fixed income.
Bad for inflation.
Bad for the dollar. INO - U.S $ INDEX (NYBOTX) Price Chart and Quote

 

[Bikerdude]

Good for equities (for now).

Bad for fixed income.
Bad for inflation.
Bad for the dollar. INO - U.S $ INDEX (NYBOTX) Price Chart and Quote

This may be true, only time will tell. However, I think the Fed was asleep at the wheel and the jobs report was the jolt that woke them up. The economy was growing at 1 to 1.5% well off the healthy normal of 2.5 to 3%. Ben had no choice, the dangers were too great to ignore.

 

[dex]

I was surprised at the size of the cut.
The exchange rate markets have been pricing it in.
Euro = $1.396
Australian = .85

 

[twaddle]

In the futures market, the odds were pretty even for 25bp vs 50bp. 25bp had a slight edge, but not much.

The odds for the December meeting currently favor another 25bp cut.

 

[chinaco]

The market got a nice boost.

The market will probably quickly factor in another future cut.

 

[Nords]

Bad for the dollar. INO - U.S $ INDEX (NYBOTX) Price Chart and Quote

Really good for those unhedged international investments!

The market got a nice boost.
The market will probably quickly factor in another future cut.

I dunno... I agree with HaHa that this rate cut has given us as much of a free pass as we're likely to get before future rate cuts are greeted with fears of the "R" word. The market has already demonstrated that it can go down quicker than it can bubble up...

 

[chinaco]

I dunno... I agree with HaHa that this rate cut has given us as much of a free pass as we're likely to get before future rate cuts are greeted with fears of the "R" word. The market has already demonstrated that it can go down quicker than it can bubble up...

Agreed... I was not necessarily implying a higher market. I am a bit unsure of the direction 6 months out. In fact Wall street may have already factored in the next rate cut. They seem to always think and act as if the next step has already occurred. If the next rate cut doesn't happen, expect a drop.

 

[audreyh1]

Wow - the shorts are still covering today!

Audrey

 

[brewer12345]

Wow - the shorts are still covering today!

Audrey

I have a little sympathy for the shorts - but not much.