F_E_D's Biege Book an additional anchor

The highlights from the 2 p.m. release of the F_E_D's beige book is going to take the wind out of the 'QE Hopefuls" sails. In effect, while not saying it, the bottom line is the Beige book was not helpful to the liquidity/QE cause as the F_E_D sees the economy expanding at a modest pace (so why should they ease?) and gas prices are seen as a drag on manufacturing (QE drives up commodity prices, just what they don't want if manufacturing is feeling a margin squeeze).

So we'll see what Wall Street does to get this move off the ground, but the macro climate is getting worse and worse for the market.