Market Intelligence

What Did the Fed Do? (And Why Are Stocks Down Again)

March 16, 2020/in Investing/by Tom Essaye

What’s in Today’s Report:

What Did The Fed Do And Why Are Stocks Down?
What to Make of This Market Now? (Buy/Sell/Hold)
Two Key Indicators to Watch This Week

Futures are limit down this morning despite the Fed cutting rates to 0% and restarting its QE program.

On Sunday night the Fed cut rates to 0% and announced a new 700 billion dollar QE program, along with other measures designed to boost liquidity.

Coronavirus news over the weekend wasn’t good as case counts continue to rise, especially in Italy. That country is the new center of the coronavirus outbreak.

Today all eyes will be on the bond market. Treasury yields need to stay down, and if the price action in LQD isn’t too bad, stocks can rally out from these early lows. Economically, there is a notable report this morning, Empire Manufacturing Survey (E: 4.8), as it will give us the first look at juts how bad economic activity has been in March.