Fed Cuts Rate to 0.25%; Markets Rally

A whole host of dismal economic numbers came out today but markets rallied after the Fed cut its target rate by 0.75 points to between zero and 0.25 percent. The Dow closed up 359.61 points to close at 8,924.14, and the S&P and Nasdaq both gained more than 5 percent. Still, consumer prices fell more than ever last month and builders broke ground on the fewest number of homes in at least a half century. Prices fell 1.7 percent in November, led by tumbling energy prices, which dropped 17 percent over the month. November housing starts were down 18.9 percent from October and 47 percent since November 2007. To top it off, all of this is raising the risk of deflation. The good news? There is none. “The horrifying thing about the housing-starts number is we’re likely to keep going down from here,” said one economist told Bloomberg. “We are just plunging like a stone and there is more to come.”