The Dow Jones Industrial Index (^DJI 0.42%) jumped 0.9% when the Fed committed to buying $40 billion of mortgage debt a month until the job market bounces back. Federal interest rates will stay at today's record-level lows until at least 2015.
These actions are obviously great news for American banks. Bank of America (BAC 3.34%) jumped 3.5% on the news, JPMorgan Chase (JPM 1.01%) added 1.5%, and American Express (AXP 4.23%) took a 2% leap.
But the Fed's action goes far beyond just lifting the burden of troubled mortgage loans off the bankers' shoulders. Twenty-nine of the 30 Dow components are trading in positive territory today as I write this. That's a rare show of broad market health.
The lone laggard? Boeing (BA 0.54%) fell ever so slightly, trading down a modest 0.1% at the moment. The defense and aerospace giant is staring down a proposed merger between European rivals BAE Systems and European Aeronautic, Defence & Space. If approved, that deal would create a huge competitor that could leverage sheer economies of scale into fresh pressure on Boeing's largest contracts around the world.
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