As to QE3

And QE3 is exactly what the bulls NEED to see equities rise. Plot out when QE started, when QE1 ended, when Bernanke gave the QE2 Jackson Hole speech and you will see the markets moved up on QE1, when it ended and there was uncertainty about QE2, the market slid about 16%, after the Jackson Hole speech and the likelihood of QE2, the market began to rise again. Since QE 2 is slated to end in a few months (and by the tone of the minutes, looks unlikely we'll see QE 3) the market has done essentially nothing-from top to top, a 1.4% change over about 2.5 months which means everything is being unwound. And for those in the bull camp hanging on to that 4 letter word, "HOPE", take a look at this from an outlet that has had the time to review the minutes...

STORY HERE

If you don't have time to read it, I'll summarize, "Fed says most on FOMC said QE3 unlikely without big change in outlook"