Quote from Pa(b)st Prime:
They really have to go only .25. In this environment they can't be Indian givers. (no offense meant to any PC POS's on board). There's only been a couple of nights where settlement has been dramatically lower than 5%. Those lowball sub 5's were all in the liquidity pump day's proceeding the DR cut.
At this point I truly believe Bernanke (and with greater certainty, the voting Board) are as much spooked by commodity strength and dollar weakness as they are by the recent market events domestically. The Fed can't save housing, stocks and related construction, real estate and financial service gigs. No one in their right mind believes the difference between a Miami condo selling or not is a cut by the Fed. What IS in the Federal Reserves hand is the future of the currency. Much of this inflation is being caused by cheap dollars allowing foreign buyers easy access to material and foods. Thus protecting the dollar will be paramount in the fight against inflation.
IMO they go .25. Kicking and screaming. The policy statement will scare the shit out of stocks. To investors Bernanke will be the bogeyman. To FX traders he may be the event causing a formidable swing high in the dollar.