Fed Reversal Sets the Stage for a Rally
Plus, What to Make of Apple 2.0 Jan 31, 2019 Good News From the Fed and Apple Sets the Market Loose As an old ad slogan goes, "Life comes at you fast." Two pieces of market news yesterday show just how quickly things can change. In December, the Federal Reserve raised the Federal Funds target rate a quarter point, from 2.25% to 2.50%. That was widely expected, and the market didn't really respond, but things changed mere minutes later during Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's press conference. If you watched the December press conference live and the market at the same time, as I did, you saw the market turn downward as Powell affirmed that we should expect two more rate increases in 2019 and that the Fed would continue with its balance sheet reduction program -- allowing $50 billion a month to run off. The market r...