Twist and shout
22-09-2011
Fed spooks the markets while the Bank of England begins QE2 semaphore.
On Wednesday the Federal Reserve announced its twist strategy, essentially buying in long-term, and selling short term, Treasury bonds to aid the US economy. More an about turn, perhaps. They rather spoilt the party, however, with a pessimistic view of "significant downside risks", which has occasioned a flight to quality by traders.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England has been preparing us for QE2, a second round of quantitative easing. The mood is not if, but when. In a very British way, the information emerged in the BofE's Monetary Committee's minutes from their September's meeting.
It's all very subtle, but look out for further clues in members' output leading up to the November meeting. In the meantime dig out your tin hat!
See also:
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/minutes/mpc/pdf/2011/index.htm
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/monetary/20110921a.htm
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-22/european-stock-index-futures-drop-as-federal-reserve-sees-risks-to-economy.html