Stocks Drop 1% During Bernanke Fed Press Conference

Impact

From CNBC.com:

Stocks added to their sharp losses in volatile trading Wednesday, with the Dow dropping nearly 150 points, after the Federal Reserve said it will maintain its bond-buying program for the foreseeable future, though Chairman Ben Bernanke hinted that the FOMC plans to moderate purchases later this year.

As of 3:23PM EST

 

 

"Wall Street traders expected exactly what the Fed delivered today: slight forecast improvements while providing a crutch to continue with its aggressive monetary policy measures," said Todd Schoenberger, managing partner at LandColt Capital.

"Interestingly, the language in the statement provides a mulligan on the recent 'tapering' comments. But Wall Street has already 'traded out' those statements and bulls will now focus on the comments about the likelihood of an increase in rates not occurring until 2015. Keeping rates low indicates a continued bull run in equities for the foreseeable future."