Nobody gets any points today for guessing what will drive markets
The Fed was very sneaky these past few months, planting a tapering seed in investors consciousness, thus for longer-term investors it is of no consequence whether tapering arrives now or later, point is it will be here by year end anyway.
Traders on the other hand have to be especially wake-up today. One strategist summed it up brilliantly like this:
A rally if expectations are met, or
A pop, then a drop if tapering is delayed, or
A sell off on a big taper.
So choose traders, be wise and make a stand.
Four of the five Asian markets are green atm, crude oil up, gold down @ $1299, US futures still positive, SAT40 -85 atm.
10:00 SA CPI (MoM) previous 1.10%, expect 0.30%
10:30 GB MPC Meeting minutes
13:00 SA Retail Sales (YoY) previous 1.90%, expect 4.50%
20:00 US FOMC Statement
20:30 US Bernanke media
Yesterday new highs for PSG, NET1UEPS & RMB
Consensus changes for Aspen, Discover and Harmony to 'hold', JSE & MTN to 'buy'.
Moon's F&G @ Neutral, so nobody scared yes? VIX +1.04%
Good luck to us all.