Once again the Dow failed to hold onto the action zone’s midpoint, dropping 284 points or 2.5%. The 15-51 Indicator lost 1.3%, with construction, industrial, financials, and energy leading the decline.
One reason the stock market sold off today was the Federal Reserve’s announcement to employ “Operation Twist” – the act of selling short term duration bonds and purchasing an equal amount of long term duration bonds. The maneuver is intended to reduce long-term interest rates; this in hopes of reviving the housing market and spurring on long term investment.
It won’t work.
Interest rates are not the problem with the housing market (see yesterday’s blog.) They’re already historically low and dropping them another point or two won’t make the least bit of difference. This makes central governance look like a subprime mortgage borrower during the run-up to the housing crash. Refinance, spend more money – refinance, spend more money – refinance, spend more money; and then go bankrupt.
Smoke and mirror monetary and fiscal policies are causing investor uncertainty and stock market volatility. This is what happens when governance addresses symptoms instead of problems.
Also making news today was Moody’s rating service, who downgraded Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Citigroup. This confirms that the currency crisis remains a global threat to investors – and that America is not immune.
How strong is your portfolio?
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