"A GOOD CONSPIRACY IS UNPROVABLE. I MEAN, IF YOU CAN PROVE IT, IT MEANS THEY SCREWED UP SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE." Mel Gibson as Jerry Fletcher in the movie, "Conspiracy Theory" And those who believe in the conspiracy theory that the Fed has access to economic data in advance of the official release dates sure felt their position was proven correct last week...let's take a look.

The main financial event of the week was the Fed, cutting the Fed Funds Rate another .50%, on top of their surprise .75% cut just eight days before. This brings the Fed Funds Rate down to 3.00% and will lower rates for business and consumer loans as well as Home Equity Lines of Credit and Adjustable Rate Home Loans - so please give me a call to discuss how this may help you. Bonds and home loan rates moved with volatility throughout the week, yet ended up close to where they started on Monday.

But the economic calendar stacked up such that two significant economic reports would come just after the Fed decision - the inflation measuring Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Index, and the heavy hitting monthly Jobs Report. While inflation numbers were relatively in-line and as expected...the Jobs number was one of the worst in years, showing no job creations at all, but instead a net loss of 17,000 jobs. Although future revisions may erase this negative number, this weak indicator made the Fed move look pretty smart, whether the conspiracy theory is true or not.