In predictable fashion, the dollar was strengthening early today against the euro until Fed chief Bernanke started talking about yet another round of free handouts for Wall Street quantitative easing.
Because the oil prices are tied to the dollar, these remarks only contribute to the rise in oil prices, which of course, did rise as well today.
It's a fair criticism of the recovery to say that it's not (yet) convincing but until the Fed can explicitly show how another round of easing helps anyone other than Wall Street, those policies and talk should end. CNBC:
In a speech to the National Association of Business Economics ahead of the market open, Bernanke left the door open to more quantitative easing but without actually promising any more.
While not a departure from his previous comments, traders took Bernanke's speech to mean that Fed action is still a strong possibility.
The Fed chief's comments sent stocks higher, the dollar lower, and bond yields lower.
