by Rick Ackerman
RickAckerman.com
Nothing like a little good news to stop the stock market’s rally dead in its tracks. Powell announced that nearly-free money would remain available to big borrowers in more or less unlimited quantities until 2023. The Dow Industrials dropped nearly 300 points on the news, like a six-year-old having a snit when his sundae arrives without a cherry on top. Perhaps this latest gift from the central bank struck investors as a tad stingy? Compared to Europe, where they’re not only giving away money but slapping lenders who don’t with a surcharge, perhaps our guys have a point.
One might have hoped that grim pandemic news out Wednesday might have balanced out the negative reaction to the stimulus news. The pandemic reportedly is resurgent in the U.S., most particularly in Texas, where a record 2504 new coronavirus cases were reported in a single day. Investors have routinely sent stocks higher on news like that, or at least marked time for a day or two. Alas, the heartless bastards showed no exuberance whatsoever. Are times so tough that bad news is treated like..bad news on Wall Street?