If This Was 2016’s “Bullard Sticksave” Moment, Here Is What Happens Next

Back on October 17, 2014, the market was in free fall mode, when out of the blue during an interview with Bloomberg TV, one of the Fed’s alleged biggest hawks hinted that the Fed could do QE4 if the rout continued. The rest, as they say was history, and the Dow soared 400 points higher to close at 16,350….

… exactly where the Dow Jones surged to moments ago, 14 months later.

Fast forward to this morning when as we showed earlier, the familiar pattern of “selling the rip” appeared and stocks, especially the Nasdaq, were in free fall when Bullard once again spoke.What he said basically suggested that for the Fed, current energy prices are too low, and thus unacceptable. To wit:

And then this:

While not as explicit a warning as his October 2014 “QE4” hint, algos quickly read between the lines, and realized that if the Fed were to escalate a line of though in which only low oil prices are preventing the Fed from achieving its energy mandate, then it is quite possible that the NY Fed trading desk would simply enter the energy market, and push oil to the “appropriate level.”

To be sure, we joked that Bullard bailed out the market again, but as of moments ago it is no longer a laughing matter because in a note released by Jefferies’ economist Thomas Simons, it was the Bullard comments that were again laid out as the catalyst for the ramp.

According to Simons, while Bullard had been “quite hawkish recently”, his comments today “represent a significant turn in his opinion.“Jefferies adds that “Bullard is acknowledging that risks to higher inflation are quiet low given the recent developments in commodity markets.”