In the be careful for what you ask for department...
Any "pause" now would be a disaster for the markets! Still almost no one mentions this...
Rather that a rally, stocks and bonds and the dollar will plunge and gold and oil will soar AFTER THE FED'S FIRST PAUSE...
Traders will over-react to any pause as a "permanant" situation and the dollar will then sell off mightily...the US bond will fall...and rates will soar at the long end of the yield curve.
THE WORST THING THE FED COULD DO TO WALL STREET NOW...IS PAUSE THE RATE HIKES...
ESPECIALLY BEFORE THE HYPER-LIQUIDITY IS COMPLETELY OUT OF THE SYSTEM...
AND BEFORE OIL AND GOLD HAVE TRULY STABILIZED WITHOUT THE HELP OF WALL STREET'S SHILLS...
ANY PAUSE NOW WOULD CRASH THE MARKETS IMMEDIATELY...SORT OF-- "BUY THE RUMOR, SELL THE FACT."
BUT THESE RALLIES IN "ANTICIPATION" OF THE PAUSE...COULD GO ON FOR A LONG LONG TIME.
BERNANKE HAS A MAJOR MESS ON HIS HANDS...A BAD MARCO ECONOMIC CLIMATE AND A MARKET THAT IS TOTALLY HYPED, AND IRRATIONAL TO THE EXTREMES...
NOT A GOOD SITUATION.
