Stock traders were disappointed with the Fed statement.How disappointed? The Fed statement was excruciatingly bland. Traders looking for signs of a pause seized on this statement: "substantial easing of monetary policy to date, combined with ongoing measures to foster market liquidity, should help to promote moderate growth over time and to mitigate the risks to economic activity."
Uh, OK. Maybe. Sorry, that is not clear enough that they are done.
On top of it, those looking for a more hawkish statement on inflation were bitterly disappointed. Indeed, they repeated the statement that they expect inflation to moderate.
But the Street is VERY worried about inflation because they have seen the effect it is having on corporate profits, and although the weak dollar has been a help to profits it has gotten so weak that even stock traders are worried about it.
The result of this bland, somewhat dovish statement: the dollar drops, bonds and gold rallies, and the fear that there is nothing to moderate the rise in oil ripples through stocks--consumers like retailers and home builders have posted notable declines late this afternoon.
The good news: April is over! And it's the first up month for S&P since October! S&P up 4.9 percent, best month since Dec. 2003.
Questions? Comments? tradertalk@cnbc.com
