Last Call For The No Taper Caper

Helicopter Ben made everybody happy today when the Fed decided that with, you know, a government shutdown coming in a couple of weeks that now may not be the best time to roll back bond purchases.  The immediate short-term result?  A record high for the Dow Jones and S&P 500.

Fed chair Ben Bernanke added fuel to Wednesday's stock rally during his press conference.

Bernanke laid out plans to maintain the central bank's "highly accommodative monetary policy" for the foreseeable future, even if the Fed eventually chooses to taper.

Bond yields, which have been rising lately, slid back as well as investors bought more bonds. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.71% from 2.87% earlier in the day.

The Fed's moves also pushed down the dollar and drove up commodities. Gold prices spiked more than 4% following the announcement. Oil prices rose more than 2%.

Whoever does get the keys to Helicopter Ben's ride will be dropping billions in bond cash each month for a long, long time.   Our economy has become more and more dependent on it.  Stimulus by any means necessary when Republicans in Congress wants to end government assistance anyway...well, to everyone but the one percent.