OPINION

Cautiously Looking Beyond the Fed

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There wasn't a lot of volume, but the market shrugged off an early indecision and rallied higher. The bias is to the upside, and despite a shaky start to the year, the long-term trend remains intact, which is very encouraging. Also encouraging is that the market is moving higher, even as the dollar edged higher as conventional wisdom shifts towards the belief; that it's going to take a universally acknowledged disaster or hiccup in the economy, for the Fed to divert from its unofficial goal of monthly tapering.

The market moving higher on less Fed accommodation has been the story since December 18, 2013. Since then, stocks have stumbled on bad news and rallied on good news, or in the case of the last couple of weeks, rallied on economic data given the benefit of the doubt based on the harsh winter weather. The light volume simply underscores that lingering doubt among pros, and others that oversimplifies investing and the human experience.

Stocks are still a forward looking mechanism that reflects accomplishments, dreams, goals, and life in general. Nobody in the world will get up tomorrow and go to a mall or bazaar, and make a decision to buy or not to buy based on central banking policy.