Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke announced in a press conference this afternoon that the U.S. Federal Reserve will continue quantitative easing, the controversial bond buying program, for now. Chairman Bernanke expressed concern over rising borrowing costs and their effect on the economy, saying that the situation calls for continued quantitative easing.
Analysts on and off Wall Street were surprised, to put it mildly. Markets responded very well to news of continued easy-money policy. The mainstream consensus was that the Fed would begin to taper off its $85 billion monthly bond purchases by around $10 or $15 billion each month. Current pricing just didn't take continued bond buying into account, and the bullish reaction was immediate, intense, and widespread.