(New York)

Investors may be a little hazy on how forthcoming Fed rate cuts might affect stocks. One kind of assumes they will be positive, but then again, rate cuts mean the economy is worsening, so the picture becomes a little hazy. Well, a pair of top research analysts have just weighed in on the question and say the market’s reaction is likely to be positive. The year after a second rate cut stocks generally rise strongly, with the Dow up an average of about 20% in the next one year. However, this only holds if it is not too late to hold off a recession. That said, the gains from a second cut have often been immediate, “Perhaps because the second cut demonstrates the Fed’s commitment, or perhaps because the liquidity from the first cut had begun to work through the system, the gains have been immediate, with an average jump of 9.7% three months after the second cut”, say analysts at Ned Davis Research.

FINSUM: As we have said recently, we think the market is re-entering a post-Crisis goldilocks phase consisting of an accommodative Fed and a not-too-weak economy, the combination of which is very supportive of asset prices.