Fed Juggles; Stocks Run in Place

Follow the bouncing ball, says Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve.

The Federal Open Market Committee completed 2006 by telling investors to follow the data just as they would follow the bouncing ball when singing along to a Christmas carol on television. That's what the Fed is doing. To wit, the central bank toed a careful line Tuesday by acknowledging slower growth, but maintained a tightening bias.

Stock, bond and currency markets staged a relatively muted response to the FOMC decision to remain on pause with the fed funds rate at 5.25%. That said, the markets took the Fed's minor addition to the accompanying policy statement as slightly more dovish. ...