Risky Business

Joel, you wanna know something? Every now and then say, "What the heck." "What the heck" gives you freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future.

That is a dialog between Miles played by Curtis Armstrong and Joel Goodsen played by Tom Cruise in the 1983 movie "Risky Business." The original quote of course used certain other four letter word which has been changed for the purpose of good taste. This might as well be the utterance of Ben Bernanke to Mr. Market.

Today, Mr. Market pretty much said "what the heck" to the so called sequester. The dysfunction of our national government in its failure to reach a sensible solution to our mounting debt problem did not seem to perturb the market much. Stocks was down perhaps for two hours in the early trading hours and by a little more than a half a percent. Then it merrily went its upward ways. Investors now seem to heavily vested in the idea of a Bernanke put. Whatever happens, the Fed will be there to rescue the market. For Joel Goodsen in "Risky Business," he was able to regain control of a chaotic situation and obtain admission to the college of his choice, not to mention the girl of his desire.

Will the easy money policy of the Federal Reserve spin out of control and lead to unforeseen consequences? Will investors be agile enough to exit the party when the Fed eventually takes the punch bowl away? The plot thickens.