Business

The day has come when the boxed-in Fed has no choice: with the vast majority of the market expecting a rate hike, Yellen has to deliver or suffer a crushing confidence blow like no other. And deliver she will, with expectations that said hike will be "as dovish as possible", which however as we explained yesterday, is not really possible. For now however, the market is desperate to convince itself that just as more easing and more QE were bullish for the market, so rate hikes are just as bullish.

The transportation sector just keeps getting worse. Even after today’s uptick, the Dow Jones Transportation Average is back where it was in April 2014, and down 18% from its peak a year ago. Within this transportation sector is freight, a gauge of the goods-based economy, which is having a rough time.

Submitted by Adam Taggart via PeakProsperity.com,

Grant Williams returns this week to set the context for this week's FOMC meeting, where the Federal Reserve is widely expected to hike interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. To say he is very skeptical of the Fed's ability to continue to control market forces much longer is a gross understatement:

There’s a lot to be worried about going into 2016 both in terms of financial markets and in terms of geopolitical concerns. 

We outlined the risks that pervade capital markets earlier today on the way to noting that the sellside penguin brigade seems to believe that somehow, nothing can derail the market’s momentum going forward. Here are the potential landmines investors face going into the new year:

Submitted by Roger Thomas via Valuewalk.com,

If you’re an observer of the political aspect of the Fed policy, you’re likely aware that central bankers like to stay out of the spotlight.  Spotlight creates political pressure, something Fed technocrats publicly dislike.

With this thought in mind, here’s a look at the federal funds rate overlaid with politics.