Did I say earlier that I’d give the buy-the-news scenario a 50/50 chance. Dang! I meant to say 100%. Truthfully, the only thing I had guts enough to handicap (not counting the zero chance of a complete withdrawal of QE) was the taper, the amount, and the sentiment behind Bernanke’s statement. Dang! I meant to say 100% on that :).
Now, 300 points is a big one-day deal, right? Not really. I’d say the proverbial Santa Claus rally had been all pent up over taper fears: Had the Dow risen 30 points a day for the past two weeks, you’d have barely noticed. So what’s it all mean going forward? It means the Fed has no intent on leaving after the holidays. Which means we’ll be, alas, talking taper well into next year.
Stay tuned…