One last quickie before bed.
I see all this concerted bull (in both senses) palaver in the media hasn't
done a thing for the equity markets (they're a bit down). Could it be that
the punters' preoccupation with the Fed's next step has occasioned the thought
that more than ever depends on Greenspan in a moment when Greenspan is less
free to make 'rational' decisions than ever? If he drops 0.5%, he's probably
just lived up to an awful lot of what the market has priced in already. If he
drops by 0.25%, he'll probably cause a bit of a drop, and if he does any less
than that, the drop could be one that affects consoomer confidence. But if
some bullish pundits I've been listening to are right, the clearance of
inventories is about over, which means there's a chance prices will begin to
rise. Given modern obsessions with inflation, that might indicate a hike (as
interest rate manipulations do need a while to kick in) - which would surely
catch the punters way off guard in the moment ... no?
Cheers,
Rob.
