<p>OT - Rate Cut - This may be paranoid, but at first I saw the Fed rate cut as a symbolic gesture, given that no matter how low rates go, it's not going to make it more likely</p> <p>for people to gather publicly, and all the economic activity that involves.</p> <p>And then this thought occurred to me: It's a way to try to prop up the stock market. With safer bond/cd returns going to plunge in reaction, it will force more people who shouldn't</p> <p>be in the market in the first place into decent dividend stocks, providing coverage for the 1%. Seems like a variation on what has happened, in large part, for the past 10 years, except</p> <p>for the brief time when the Fed raised rates to the point where you could take out a long-term CD at 4%. With the 30 year Treasuries briefly sinking below a 1% yield yestetday,</p> <p>where else are people going to go for yield? I *think* a real market collapse would catch all those people who are in the market because it's the only way they can cover living expenses (esp.</p> <p>retirees), and probably bankrupt them. So perhaps the Fed's move, which should (we hope) have an effect of propping up the market, is meant to cover both the the elite rich and the</p> <p>near-poor that are in the market. And, if this wild fear turns out to be unwarranted, they'll get away wtih it. If it really is armageddon, the market could sink below 2008 levels, and all</p> <p>economic hell breaks loose. Just very IMHO.</p>