Sorry, the Fed Can't Save Us From a Bear Market
Wall Street commentary around this week's Fed rate cut could have filled a very long and boring book, but much of what you need to know about its effect on the stock market can be found in a movie rarely linked with monetary policy: "The Wizard of Oz.". The great and powerful man behind the central bank curtain, Jerome Powell, really can't do as much as people think to keep their portfolios from shriveling if the wheels are already starting to come off the economy. Stocks' initial reaction to Wednesday's cut was exuberant. That often proves to be a head fake, though -- we still don't know how this movie ends.Take the start of the rate-cutting cycle in 2007 -- one that coincidentally began on the same day of the year, the same starting federal-funds rate, and was for an identical amount, half a percent -- as Wednesday's move. The effect was electric: The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its largest gain in more than four years, rising 336 points, the equivalent of about 1,000 points to