Stocks And FOMC Meetings

Equity markets are known to move in a predictable manner immediately after policy decisions. This column provides evidence of large predictable movements in stock prices 25 days before policy actions in the US. The shocks continue for another 15 days, and average 4.5%. It suggests monetary policy shocks might not be shocks after all, and that we might be underestimating the effect of monetary policy on asset prices and real consumption.