Well JW - you were right once again my friend...
Seems that these people are simply NOT going to do anything till they see the whites of the eyes of a recession...'course by then it will be too late as usual. Strange how they raise interest rates at the mere hint of inflation (with essentially little evidence), but don't lower rates till we are so close to a recession that it is breathing down our necks and about to kick us in the a#$...
Well we're in for it now, so might as well enjoy it while it lasts... chalk another one up to experience and move on...
biz.yahoo.com
Nasdaq, S&P 500 slump to lows for 2000 on Fed warning
(UPDATE: Updates to unofficial close)
NEW YORK, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Stocks slumped on Tuesday, knocking the Nasdaq composite and the Standard & Poor's 500 indexes to lows for the year, as fears of a slowing economy intensified after the Federal Reserve said a swift economic cooling could snowball into sharp downturn.
The Federal Reserve left short-term interest rates unchanged, but signaled that it stood ready to cut rates if necessary to keep the economy out of a recession.
``It clarifies for people that things are really slowing,'' said John Leonard, co-head of North American equites at Brinson Partners, which manages $190 billion. ``There's a possibility that you'll look back when they revise the (economic) numbers and see that were are already in a recession or at least a hard landing.''
The Nasdaq composite index went into a freefall after the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee at midafternoon issued its statement. The index ended with a 112.82-point loss, or 4.31 percent, at 2,511.70, according to the latest data, its lowest close of the year.
The Dow Jones Industrial average fell 61.05 points, or 0.57 percent, to 10,584.37 after giving back a rally of 139 points.
The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 17.17 points, or 1.30 percent, to 1,305.57, also a 2000 closing low. |
