Traders seem to have already getting started on their holiday meals as stocks indices are all hovering at or around unchanged on Wednesday. The big mover on is the Dow, which is down approximately 50 ticks or .21%. The mini S&P is down 1 (0.04%) and the mini Nasdaq is actually up 6 (.09%). The Federal Open Market Committee just released the minutes of the previous meeting. The biggest takeaway, for me at least, was that they continue to feel that asset valuations are high, volatility is low, and that is creating imbalances in the market place. They fear that these imbalances could cause some pretty chaotic reversals, and it appears that they are not quite as certain about the three rate hikes that they’ve penciled in for 2018. That said, the Fed Chairs all seem to be happy with the growth of the economy. Where they do seem to differ a bit is on inflation. Some feel large increases would hamper the progress the economy has been making, while others fear we’re not ramping inflation up fast enough. Others seem to be in a holding pattern, waiting to see how the data comes out in the coming months before making a final decision.  

 

Dec ’17 E-Mini S&P 500 Daily Chart