Stocks trod water for most of the day until the Fed said they would take the punhbowl away and that markets were complacent and that triggered buying in stocks, bonds, and gold. VIX was the catalyst (just as we saw at the actual FOMC meeting) and we would not be shocked to see a major volume dump after-hours in VXX (as dark pools unload their manipulations). The Dow ripped higher, desperate to reach 17,000 and prove that 'wealth' was back - but failed (although it did manage to get back to unch from the payrolls). Treasury yields limped higher, spiked higher on FOMC then dumped to the low yields of the day by the close (0-1bps lower on the day). Precious metals leaked lower into FOMC but spiked notably after with gold closing near 4-month highs. Oil was sliding into the minutes and did not bounce to close at its lowest in 2 months. VIX did its best to remind everyone that when the FOMC speaks, it's always good market news.
The Dow ramp fell short of its 17k target...
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But did manage to get back to unch from payrolls (though the rest of the markets did not)
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Stocks remain red on the week...
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VIX did its best to remind everyone that when the FOMC speaks, it's always good market news.
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The FOMC Minutes split the markets...
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Treasury prices dumped and pumped on the FOMC news - closing unch to 1bp lower in yield
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Commodities faded early but the post-FOMC reaction sent gold and silver soaring - gold near 4 month highs...
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Charts: Bloomberg
Bonus Chart: Oil's dump and gold's pump has driven the gold cost of oil to its one-year average
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