On Wednesday afternoon, the Federal Reserve will announce whether or not it will be taper time for its monthly?$85 billion bond-buying program. The markets and investors have been analyzing this possible outcome for the last few weeks–especially in the last few days.?
In a chart on Wednesday morning by?Thomas Tzitzouris of Strategas Research Partners provided to?the Wall Street Journal, he provides a picture of the December taper odds that has them on the rise over the last several weeks.
He also said, ?It seems extreme to refer to today as ?judgment day? for the markets; at most, Fed policy is likely to make an incremental shift to a less accommodative stance, with a more likely result being a shift in both tone and expectations. Nonetheless, investors have circled December 18th on their calendars in anticipation of a seismic shift in the direction of Fed policy.
?Today may still turn out to be a volatile day, with more than one Fed surprise, but policy itself is likely to remain highly accommodative, regardless of what the central bank ultimately decides.?
Take a look.?
Regardless if a taper announcement happens today, look for it to remain in the conversation for the next few months and as this chart exemplifies, the anticipated cut could come next month.
At the time of this writing, the S&P 500 is at 1,780, down 1 (0.06%); the Dow is at 15, 897, up 22 (0.14%) and the Nasdaq is at 4,005, down 19 (0.45%).
The VIX is at 16.21.
Earlier today, The Options Insider tackled the tapering question with this piece, “The FOMC Rope-A-Dope.”