This just in…The Earth is round!

This just in…The Earth is round! Wait, you all knew that already. How about this: increased risk due to aggressive monetary easing is worrisome and Fed members are concerned that continuing on this path could get “messy”. Ok, so today’s commentary isn’t filled with any great revelations. Due to what we in the trading biz would call “Fat Fingers”, somebody at the Fed pushed the red button – you know, the one that has a sign that says “don’t push the red button” – a little too soon so market participants didn’t have to wait until the usual 2:00 PM release of the minutes and instead were treated to a 9:00 AM release. The jist of the minutes: perhaps we (The fed) should start considering the ramifications of our actions. Does this mean the $85 billion a month spending spree will be scaled back? That’s anyone’s guess but considering employment and inflation targets are not within striking distance it’s unlikely it will be scaled back any time soon. Nonetheless, the chatter of a QE pullback has anyone who got caught with their hand in the precious metal cookie jar on Tuesday getting the added pleasure of having that hand crushed by the lid this morning. Short covering yesterday pushed the precious complex northward with gold, silver, platinum and palladium closing their sessions at $1586.70, $27.881, $1553.10 and $733 respectively. Gold has given back nearly .75% of those gains in early trading, silver is down to $27.675. Platinum is of more than 1% and palladium is the big loser, now trading $714 (down 2.5%). In other news, President Obama will release his budget proposal for 2014 in an attempt to bridge the grand-canyon size gap between his administration and the Republicans over government spending. Despite the precarious position of the domestic economy, the DJIA is up nearly .5% to start the day. Have a great day!