The battle of the Fed Reserve continues with soundbites.  Dennis Lockhart, Atlanta Fed Pres, agrees the FOMC should discuss hiking rates, but he doesn’t betray a desire to hike before the election.  The market got some relief there, but it’s the comments from Fed Governor Lael Brainard at 1:15 in Chicago that could re-shift sentiment and anxiety. Brainard, who was just added to the list of speakers, is one of the most dovish Fed members.  Her late addition spooked some who think that this might be a sign that she is changing her dovish tone.

Meanwhile, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashari took on Donald Trump’s assertion the Fed is in the tank for Hillary/Obama.  

The Dow pierced 18,000 this morning very briefly after the open before rallying nearly 170 points. It is critical that the index remain above this key support level on a closing basis. The NASDAQ has made a convincing bounce up nearly 1% at noon, rallying back above the 50-day moving average at 5141. Advancers/decliners are split 55%/42% on both the NYSE and NASDAQ while up volume is in the 70% range for both. Total volume is fair ahead of the Fed comments at 1:00pm.