This is very complicated. The market was rising in anticipation of a 1/2% cut, and with the 1/4% cut it had to back up about halfway. That may sound simple, but it is simplistic rather than simple. The whole market is more than just the DJIA/NASDAC, and includes commodities and bonds and other instruments.
I daytrade every day. That said, I have enough ways to make money without making a bet on what the market will do after the Fed decision. I never play the Fed. J P Morgan Chase is one of my favorite stocks. It traded at 48 right before the decision was announced, it went down to 45.50 after the announcement. I cannot remember a solid financial Dow component making such a move on a Fed decision and I have actively traded since BEFORE online trading. You said it was simplistic but you were right, and for the people who play the market it was a pure bet. If you shorted the financials, you made a boatload of money. I am not sure if the market would have bounced too much to the upside if the Fed had a cut a half a point, but there is a good chance the shorts would have been squeezed today, at least in the short term.
“simplistic,” IMO, is just what those wall street brokers are. I often wonder how many are on the Soro’s payroll??
There absolutely no reason or sense in today’s afternoon action - and it plays havoc with 401k plans that millions of retirees depend on.