Really, was a lowering of the discount rate by 25 bp 40 hours ahead of schedule really going to solve anything or prove anything? It just tells me that Bernanke is the worst Fed chairman in the history of the Fed and is wearing out the panic button. It is all so transparent that these Fed actions are intended to try to support the stock market and try to improve trader psychology instead of actually being used to sustain economic growth like their mandate states. I thought it would be difficult to have a worse Fed chairman than Greenspan but Bernanke takes the cake. Bring back Volcker, or replace Bernanke with Fisher, someone with a pair of balls that isn't Wall Street's bus boy.
What do you suppose would have happened to the financial sector tomorrow if this trivial move was not made after the 2$ share announcement????(not saying its still not going to btw)
Technically speaking, can Bernanke be replaced by someone else? And who is to determine Bernanke get replaced?
The same thing that would have happened without the trivial announcement. Because everyone sees through it for what it is, another Fed bailout that just devalues the dollar even more and doesn't solve the real problems which can only be solved by time, not by panic moves and devaluation In fact, I would have to say at this point, the Fed is hurting the market because traders will realize now that Bernanke can't save the day anymore and his short squeezing announcements last less than an hour, they used to last longer than that. Traders are losing faith in this Fed because its so panicky and wrecking the dollar in the process.
If things are so bad, why are they waiting till tues to cut fed funds? And like .25 is gonna matter much. I think he's trying to be less predictable for Wall st.
Agree. Best thing Bernie can do is stop lowering rates, admit we are in deep shit and let it play out no matter what. If the markets must tank 50% to reach a bottom, so be it. In the meantime, re-write all the rules of the game to prevent another credit crunch from happening in the future.
Bernanke's term expires in 2010, so we're stuck with him till then unless he voluntarily resigns, which is not going to happen unless there is a vigorous public outcry asking for it. We're stuck with Bazooka Ben for another 2 years, grin and bear it.