Here are some of the highlits of today's release:
- Economic growth remains slow. Recent indicators point to continuing weakness in job markets
- Household spending has increased only at a moderate pace.
- Investment in nonresidential structures still weak and the housing sector remains depressed
- There are significant downside risks ro the economic outlook, including strains in global financial markets (I think it's pretty clear they're talking about Greece the European Union's debt crisis)
Now, here's why the Standard & Poor's 500 yesterday fell 3% and today 3.19% : FED's "new" strategy is a demerol. Sure, it helps to relief the pain, but it's an opioid. Works just for the moment, thought the disease is still there.
It's one's opinion that buying long term-assets and sell short-term ones to lower the longer-term interest rates is absolutely pointless if the guy at the counter doesn't have any money, nor does he have a job or a credit line.
So from one's point of view, the FED is unwilling to do something big like it did with the TARP. Then again, they had the same attitud during 2008 untill markets collapsed, so my guess is, they won't do much until things get really, really bad. Which shouldn't take long since fellows like Mohammad El-Erian (PIMCO's CEO) today said Europe is already in a recession.