Janet Yellen stopped gold in it's tracks with words. Meanwhile, the Fed is still buying bonds at the rate of USD 55 billion a month.
Ok, so's she's gone early and called it: interest rate rises in mid 2015. So its words today, and now we all sit and wait for over 12 months as the hard facts and data roll in. And that's where it gets really interesting. Because it's all very well to spout some words and have a temporary effect now, but much more difficult to have events play out the way the Fed wants them to.
Who else has gone early and called it now? The US economy is booming(?) The global economy is booming(?)
There's a lot of water to pass under the bridge yet. Every month that the taper continues the whole economy has to come off life support and keep beating under it's own power, eventual interest rate rises mean eventual bigger interest payments on debt. March 2015 is the next debt ceiling showdown. There is a long, long way to go to get out of these woods.