The U.S. stock market is the most volatile in 70 years, according to a Standard & Poor's study of daily price swings in the S&P 500.... http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213&sid=av840GLwE4UA&refer=home
They are borrowing from the Fed at a low interest rate, and buying foreign euro-denominated bonds yielding a higher interest rate--and in the process, making a currency gain as the euro rises against dollar-denominated assets. The Fed thus is subsidizing capital flight, exacerbating inflation by making the price of imports (headed by oil and other raw materials) more expensive. These commodities are not more expensive to European buyers, but only to buyers paying in depreciated dollars."
The Plunge Protection Team is a panel that includes Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox, and acting Commodity Futures Trading Commission head Walter Lukken. According to John Crudele of the New York Post , the Plunge Protection Team's (PPT) objective is to redirect the stock market by "buying market averages in the futures market, thus stabilizing the market as a whole."... http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article4074.html
In Congress, Democrats are drafting bills that would create a powerful new regulator — or simply confer new powers on the Federal Reserve — to oversee practices across the entire array of commercial banks, Wall Street firms, hedge funds and nonbank financial companies. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/business/23regulate.html?ei=5065&en=71e656b05114c042&ex=1206849600&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
