Wednesday Afternoon Cheat Sheet: 3 Stories That Moved Markets

The U.S. equity markets struck out for positive territory early in the morning and remained there through the afternoon. All three major indexes posted gains for the day as euro-zone concerns were drowned out by investor optimism over the fact that the Federal Reserve would continue the ambitious bond-buying program to which the markets have become addicted.

At the close: DJIA: +0.39%, S&P 500: +0.67%, NASDAQ: +0.78%.

Here are three stories that helped move markets on Wednesday:

1) The liquidity party courtesy of the Federal Reserve does not appear to be ending anytime soon. The new Federal Open Market Committee minutes show that the central bank will keep pouring Mr. Market drinks at a rate of $85 billion per month.

The Federal Reserve points to the ongoing struggles with unemployment levels as one of the key drivers in loose monetary policy. Esther George from the Kansas City Fed was the only member voting against the action… (Read more.)