Stocks Soar, Dollar Dives on QE2: Here's What You Need to Know

Posted Nov 04, 2010 04:35pm EDT by Joe Weisenthal

From The Business Insider

A mini taste of Zimbabwe today? It kind of felt like it:

But first, the scoreboard:

Dow: +222
NASDAQ: +35
S&P 500: +23

And now, the top stories:

* Well, obviously "today" started yesterday at 2:15 PM ET when the Fed announced its quantitative easing initiative. What's funny is that it didn't actually move the markets all that much Wednesday (after some initial chaotic trading).

* But stocks surged higher in Japan last night, and that set the tone for a monster global "risk-on" rally around the world. China had a monster night as well.

* Of course, "risk-on" is codeword for "dump the dollar and buy everything else in sight" so there were huge rallies in Treasuries, precious metals (new highs in gold and silver!) industrial commodities, agricultural commodities, and of course stocks.

* Notably weak: PIIGS debt. Spreads are blowing out wildly in Ireland and Greece, though the effect on the euro really is almost non-existent. After all, the euro isn't the dollar, so it is something to be held. Also, there were riots and bombs around Athens all day, but again, nobody cared. (See: Us vs. Them: U.S. Opts for More Bailouts, Europe Takes Road to Austerity)

* In the U.S., the big macro data of the morning was the weekly jobs report which jumped and was worse than expectations.

* Did we mention that gold surged? Yes, we did, but it's worth mentioning again. It's above $1390.

* As for stocks, well, they surged all day, ending right near their highs. And look, Bernanke literally said last night that higher stock prices were part of his goal, so if you're betting against stocks, you're betting against the guy with the biggest long-only fund in the world. (See: What's Bernanke Smoking? "A Complete Mystery" How QE2 Helps the Economy, Galbraith Says)

* The bottom line: Everyone is terrified by the severity of the 'everything-but-the-dollar' trade lately. Hopefully Ben Bernanke knows what he's doing. (See: Bernanke Christens QE2: Fed "On a Very Dangerous Path," Axel Merk Says)