On the Slant: What to Make of the Fed’s Tightening Talk

From Jeff Reeves’ The Slant:

So the Federal Reserve threw investors for a loop with talk of quantitative easing programs ending sooner than expected. The dollar surged higher, gold collapsed, stocks sold off by triple digits … this was a big deal all around.

But what exactly lies in store for investors going forward now that the headlines have hit?

Charles Sizemore of Sizemore Capital Management talked with me for a bit in this latest podcast about what investors can expect. In a nutshell, Charles doesn’t think that it is anything more than a short-term headwind because there’s still little action on the part of Ben Bernanke & Co. … even if the discussion has taken a slightly more hawkish tone.

Much ado is being made of the statement that the “risks of asset purchases might well lead the Committee to taper or end its purchases before it judged that a substantial improvement in the outlook for the labor market had occurred.” However, without some true hawkish action, it’s not going to mean much.

Charles Lewis Sizemore, CFA, is chief investment officer of the investment firm Sizemore Capital Management and the author of the Sizemore Insights blog.