Stocks soared, bonds caught a huge bid, and commodities of every description took off – grains, energy, metals, gold, and silver.
What happened? Was it suddenly determined that everything was worth more all at once? No, what happened is this: The markets are figuring out that what we have been predicting here for several years is, in fact, the direction in which the world is actually headed. Printing is being selected over austerity.
Now to any student of history, that is not at all a surprising outcome; in fact, the opposite would be deeply surprising. But it seems that each generation of investors has to rediscover the obvious. Yesterday was a day of discovery.
Yesterday was a “billy club over the head” provided by your friendly central bankers. First there was Japan’s announcement that they would dramatically expand their quantitative easing program:
Stocks, gold, energy and other commodities soared Tuesday after the Bank of Japan announced plans to dramatically expand its quantitative easing program. The BOJ’s action spurred expectations for similar efforts by other central banks, Bloomberg reports, which helped the Dow climb 1.8% to within reach of 11,000. Meanwhile, gold hit another new record above $1,340 an ounce, silver reached a 30-year high and tin jumped to a record near $26,000 a metric ton.
But don’t confuse strength in such “risk” assets with an improving economy, says Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings.
“When you print a lot of money, the people who get the money are better off — there’s no question about it.
by cmartenson 
