the market got into this mess because rates were too low for too long. what does the fed do to fix the problem? lower rates again. they lowered rates 125 basis points in a week whicj has to be unprecedented. something tells me the durable goods number from yesterday will prove to be an abberation but thats just my opinion. as a trader i try not to look to deeply at economic data but my curious side gets the best of me.
You are being entirely reasonable. The immediate concern seems to be for jobs and to keep things from moving rapidly into the dumper. The Fed can always make the market go up by inflating, that has both psychological and political benefits. But, of course, that does not improve our long-term economic health, it just temporarily keeps it from getting a lot worse. Real improvement in economic health will have to come through a combination of fiscal reform and productivity growth. I laugh when i hear these proposals to send everyone borrowed money. It's equivalent to forcing us to take out loans that some of us don't need nor want. Of course we'll have to pay those loans back at interest via monetization. There is no free lunch.