KEY POINTS
  • Should market conditions deteriorate, the Federal Reserve could venture into the stock market, several market analysts and economists said.
  • Such a move likely would come in the form of a big ETF that tracks major market indexes.
  • Congressional approval would be needed to take such a step.
  • The Fed already has launched a historically aggressive use of its various powers.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell holds a news conference following a closed two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting in Washington, September 18, 2019.

The Federal Reserve has unleashed what's frequently been called a bazooka in its efforts to calm markets. Its next step could be to go nuclear.

Should conditions on Wall Street deteriorate significantly, the central bank could go where it's never gone before: to passively intervene in the stock market for the first time ever, according to market analysts and economists.