Have the record number of investors in the stock market lost their minds?

Re:Have the record number of investors in the stock market l... by mrep on Saturday May 16, 2020 @01:02PM (#23205137)

The fed cannot give directly to consumers. However, congress can and did give directly to consumers with the 1200 check, the 600 a week increase in unemployment, and indirectly by funding payroll for small businesses and the airlines. However, that created a whole lot of debt which the fed has been predominantly buying with their printed dollars as you can see in their balance sheet [0].

[0]: https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h41/current/h41.htm

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Re:Have the record number of investors in the stock market l... by cwhiz on Saturday May 16, 2020 @03:29PM (#23206478)

The fed is legally barred from directly lending to businesses or households except for in an emergency where they can do virtually anything they want.

Congress authorizes $300 billion in direct checks to consumers. The remaining $2.7 trillion went to businesses.

The fed has separately printed several trillion dollars lending to businesses, buying corporate bonds, and other actions.

What should the stock market be at right now? Who knows. We have no way to know because we won’t allow the market to tank.

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Re:Have the record number of investors in the stock market l... by mrep on Saturday May 16, 2020 @05:49PM (#23207498)

> The remaining $2.7 trillion went to businesses.

Nope (and the total bill was 2.1 trillion not 3 trillion): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus_Aid,_Relief,_and_E...

> The fed has separately printed several trillion dollars lending to businesses, buying corporate bonds, and other actions.

Also not even remotely true, they are predominately buying U.S. Treasury securities and Mortgage-backed securities: https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h41/current/h41.htm

Got any sources to back up your claims?

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Re:Have the record number of investors in the stock market l... by criddell on Saturday May 16, 2020 @01:39PM (#23205482)

When there's no worries about inflation, is there a downside to the fed doing this?

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