FOMC Takeaways (An End to QE4?)

What’s in Today’s Report:

  • FOMC Takeaways:  Slightly Dovish, But Could Set Up For a More Volatile Q2
  • Are Repo Operations Really QE?  (And Why You Should Care)

Futures are sharply lower as concerns about the economic fallout from the Wuhan coronavirus continue to mount.

The spread of the Wuhan virus isn’t accelerating, but markets becoming more concerned about future earnings and economic growth as companies implement work stoppages to reduce the chance of the disease spreading.

Today there is a Bank of England rate decision and while the official market expectation is for no change, don’t be shocked if there’s a 25 bps rate cut.  Outside of the BOE, we also get the first look at Q1 GDP (E: 2.1%) and Jobless Claims (E: 215K).

On the earnings front, today is really the last “big” day of earnings, and the clear highlight is AMZN ($3.98) after the close, followed by: V ($1.46), KO ($0.43), UPS ($2.10), VZ ($1.15), MO ($1.01).