13 December 2005

Behold the Power of the Fed

As measured by the speed of pleasantly surprised reaction in financial markets, in reaction to a very minor change in a statement issued by the Federal Reserve' Open Market Committee (FOMC) after increasing interest rates as expected today:

DJI, S&P 500, Nasdaq Indices on 12-13-2005

I'd say the spike in the Dow Jones Industrial index (DJI), Standard & Poor 500 index (GSPC), and Nasdaq index (IXIC) all happened at about the exact time the following news was reported:

2:15PM: As expected, the FOMC has raised the fed funds rate by 25 basis points to 4.25% and maintains that some further measured policy firming is likely; however, the Fed did drop the reference with regard to "policy accomodation." NYSE Adv/Dec 1489/1752, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1232/1726

Source: Yahoo! Finance Market Update on December 13, 2005