We're all looking to see when the Fed will stop increasing short-term rates.
What the Fed is telling us here is that they are not of the mind to put so much tightness on the economy as to jeopardize modest growth in the year ahead, and the market is taking great delight in that.
Economic strength poses a possible risk that the Fed might find it necessary to increase interest rates even beyond May. With that comes the risk that the economy could be slowed substantially, which is something that had been taken off the table at least in the last month.
Once the Fed signals its intentions or investors perceive that the end is near, stocks might rise strongly.
The fear that the Fed will continue well into 2006 has been dramatically reduced, and that's why equities look so good.
The impetus for equities prices to move dramatically to the upside will come from the data that says the Fed can stop raising rates. Today's data really didn't say that.