The Fed dropped the word, "patient", from their commentary about when interest rates will rise, and the market clearly liked what it heard. SPX ran upward $25 to close at $2100. RUT traded even higher to set a new all-time record at $1252, up $10. Accordingly, volatility contracted with the VIX dropping almost two points to a touch under 14%. Trading volume spiked higher with 2.6 billion shares of the S&P 500 stocks trading.  Trading volume rose 30% on the NYSE and was up 15% on NASDAQ.

I was surprised at the market's intense reaction to the FOMC announcement today. Removing the "patient' adjective would seem to suggest higher interest rates coming sooner, but traders didn't take it that way. The announcement included a downgraded assessment of the strength of the economy and projections of year end interest rates that were lowered from the last announcement. It now seems very strange that just a couple of weeks ago, the markets pulled back because of a fear that the jobs report was so favorable that the Fed would raise interest rates sooner. Trying to put the market on a rational basis that enables some predictability appears to be a difficult, if not impossible, task.