Fed bends the rate curve, markets freak out!

[pscot]

Good, politically neutral article from WaPo.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/world-markets-fall-sharply-after-fed-action-on-bonds/2011/09/22/gIQAPMcOnK_story.html


GOP: Federal Reserve move reveals Obama’s failures



After diving more than 5 percent in afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average trimmed some losses and closed down 390 points, or 3.5 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq indexes closed down a little more than 3 percent. Both had tumbled at least 4.5 percent earlier in the afternoon.
.....

The sell-off was triggered by Wednesday’s gloomy news from the Federal Reserve, which said that it sees “significant downside risks” to the U.S. economy. To try to boost growth, thecentral bank announced that it would purchase $400 billion in long-term Treasury securities and sell off short-term Treasury bonds.

Global commodities were also down across the board, as the outlook for economic growth — particularly in China, the world’s second-largest economy — dimmed. Lower prices implied less demand for everything from oil to agricultural products and precious metals. Crude oil was down more than 7 percent to around $80 a barrel Thursday, and even gold, which has soared to new highs on concerns about economic stability, was down 3.8 percent to $1,737 an ounce.


.......

The Fed’s latest move aims to lower interest rates on mortgages and other long-term loans without making another major infusion of money into the economy — and brushes aside a crescendo of criticism from Republicans who have been making the Fed a campaign issue.

(Bold added)