Professional system trader Art Collins shares his daily biases in the index, bonds and currency futures markets for December 22.

The Fed has taken interest rates to zero. They have clearly started a program of quantitative easing. What exactly does that mean? Are we all now Japanese? Is the Fed pushing on a string, as Japan has done for almost two decades? The quick answer is no, but the quick answer doesn't tell us much.

From a technical perspective, the US Oil Fund ETF (USO) is screaming for a recovery rally.

Take a look at the strong correlation between the price of oil and consumer prices.

The feds want to give people money.  They’ve already cut interest rates to zero – as a practical matter, they can’t go lower.

Professional system trader Art Collins shares his daily biases in the index, bonds and currency futures markets for December 19.

Professional system trader Art Collins shares his daily biases in the index, bonds and currency futures markets for December 18.

ZIRP – the “zero interest rate policy” – was tested in Japan for many years. There is no evidence that it did any good.

The extraordinary near-vertical advance in the Lehman 20-Year T-Bond ETF (TLT) continues, as yield on both the 10- and 30-year Treasuries plummets.

This is not the first time in recent history that US interest rates have fallen below Japanese levels.