Encouraging verbal signs and interest rate path projections after the Federal Reserve meeting last night clearly provided greater support to the broad S&P 500 indicator than to its leading core consisting of the AI-related businesses. The S&P 500 just ended the regular session on March 20 by nearly 0.9% higher to close above 5,200 points for the first time ever and then added another 0.5% in the pre-market trading today, while most AI-leaders, including NVidia and AMD, stood in the vicinity of their previous heights. At the same time, even some stocks that were lagging behind in recent months like Tesla (+2.5%) or banking stocks cheered up more visibly. The Bank of America added 2% in one day, as an example. Several consumer discretionary stocks rose too. A very much understandable effect, as the AI core, or tech stocks at the bigger picture, represented a major group, which successfully climbed upstairs even without any doping help from central bankers. Meanwhile, most stocks need stronger pillars like lower borrowing costs and soft landing hopes to grow further. And so, the market has been granted that wish.

Surely, the Fed left its fund rates steady for the fifth time in a row, yet it mentioned three "planned" rate cuts before the end of 2024. The chair Powell said before that March was "too soon" to have "enough confidence" from incoming economic data to cut rates, but now most investing houses are betting for June. The Fed also saw more rate cuts to drop to 3.9% in 2025 and 3.1% in 2026. For me, they are using a kind of gaslighting tactic, as initially they pushed the market to suppose up to six rate cut moves this year. In fact, the Fed did zero moves, while inflation is trending up again, and so the Wall Street is now happy with only a suggestion of three rate cuts soon. This is not dovish yet is perceived as being dovish. That was a neat trick with our minds yet it worked well to make almost everybody keep bullish positions. This happens exactly when most households and business owners continue to suffer from too expensive credit money, yet this would not prevent mega caps and now broader markets to enjoy new peaks. Well, all of us will work with what we all have, still expecting the S&P 500 at 5,500 or so in few months. And I will buy and hold when others are buying and holding, why not?