It was darkness at noon in mid-August until the equity markets found some light in the form of massive cash injections from the world’s central banks. Still, Tough Love Ben Bernanke has sent a message that the salad days of yesteryear (19872006) are over and that financial pain will be evenly spread between Wall Street and Main Street. The Wall adds a worry: The panic has passed, but longer-term concerns are rising. Keep a wary eye on auto sales. Then there’s the checkered history of stocks in September and October. So we may just get another, bigger, buying opportunity, should rates be cut. Refresh your wish list, gird yourself for volatility and chant: “Don’t fight the Fed.”
