I think the rate cut in Europe won't make much difference in their markets. Everybody knew it was coming, but the surprise was that they did not wait until Dec 22.
May be they were trying to "pull a Greenspan" to stimulate their market which were starting to spiral downward again.
As far as Wall Street, the bull market died in July. We are in a bear market, and a recession in the US in 1999 is IMO inevitable.
There are so many factors combined against world economies right now that no ammount of rate manipulation and speculation will prevent what's coming. We can only hope for a gradual decline and no panic. (Abie Cohen should offer a lot of help there.)
There was no rebound in Asia. Assets there are still overpriced, and we will not have a rebound until Japan and its banks are healthy again. That will take at least a year or two.
Adding to current problems, the new lows in oil prices are a tragedy for all large oil-exporting countries who relied on these revenues to finance their growth. (Venezuela, Mexico, Middle East and Russia.)
I've lived in Europe, the US, and most lately Asia, and see the pieces of a nasty puzzle coming together.
US consumers are oblivious to these problems because they have a limited understanding of the consequences, and are now benefitting from deflationary pressures we are seeing. In addition, the bullish bias of analysts is just ridiculous.
Revenues are going wild, but margins are getting squeezed. When consumption slows down, as it will inevitably because of cutbacks and credit saturation, companies with low margins and high debt will start bleeding profusely.
Sorry to paint such a bleak picture.
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