In lieu of commenting on what has now become a daily market ramping farce, when the WSJ's Jon Hilsenrath dutifully reports to the world [5], just after 3 pm (usually on down days) what the NY Fed has authorized him to report [6]and catalyzes a burst of algorithmic buying - today's last hour ramp being no difference - we will instead share a flashback to the infamous Ben Bernanke Asset-Price "Bubbles" and Monetary Policy [7] speech from 2002 which, in retrospect, is a sublime epitaph to the concept of free markets and perfectly summarizes the joke that modern "price discovery" has become, having been replaced with one simple task: create the biggest asset bubble ever.
I worry about the effects on the long-run stability and efficiency of our financial system if the Fed attempts to substitute its judgments for those of the market. Such a regime would only increase the unhealthy tendency of investors to pay more attention to rumors about policymakers' attitudes than to the economic fundamentals that by rights should determine the allocation of capital.
Following today's n-th Hilsenramp, and in light of the Fed's attempts to substitute its judgments for those of the market for the fifth year in a row, all one can do is laugh.