The stage is set for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates Wednesday, and the stock market may just be positioning itself for a letdown. Last week, markets expected a quarter-point rate cut and were just happy that the Fed was starting the cutting cycle. Since then, stocks have ramped up to an all-time high, with the S & P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting fresh records during Tuesday's session. .
According to JPMorgan traders in their Tuesday note, cutting by a half point would be more of a "clearing event" that would propel the market into gauging the impact of other factors, such as earnings and November's presidential election. To them, it wouldn't actually send the market into panic, but calm it by validating the market's expectations for aggressive easing for 2024. The firm's chief U.S.