“Key” surprises have ended up being the theme of this week. The Fed has extended the term of free money by 18-months and the door is now ajar for further QE. It’s the “when” that many appear to disagree with. It seems unlikely to be applied until after operation twist ends in June. QE2 and the ‘twist’ arrived after extensive debates and many months of weak data. In the medium term, both equities and commodities should continue to benefit from the idea that the Fed has better than even odds of performing additional QE. US GDP, despite growing at a solid +2.8% in Q4, provided its surprise in the details. The mix of ... (full story)