The moves go beyond anything the Fed during the financial crisis in 2008-09, both in scope and speed.
The Federal Reserve announced a slew of new programs Thursday aimed at lending out as much as $2.3 trillion to businesses and governments.
"The Fed is at war against the virus and this is a wartime degree of commitment to credit policy," Evercore ISI analyst Krishna Guha said.Despite a raft of horrifying economic data and even worse forecasts ahead, the stock market is coming off its best week since 1974. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks to reporters after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates in an emergency move designed to shield the world's largest economy from the impact of the coronavirus, during a news conference in Washington, March 3, 2020.With a series of moves that take it still deeper into uncharted waters, the Federal Reserve has shown that its work in supporting the economy through the coronavirus is far from finished.
"The Fed is at war against the virus and this is a wartime degree of commitment to credit policy," Guha added.To recap: The Fed on Thursday not only announced details of the much-anticipated Main Street lending program it is undertaking with the Treasury, but also detailed a slew of other measures aimed at boosting various parts of the markets and economy.
There was a move to provide support for loans made to small businesses, another measure that adds to existing credit facilities that will buy up business debt beyond the investment-grade sphere and into "fallen angel" territory that includes recently downgraded companies, and a bold move to loan directly to states and municipalities.
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