let's bring back bob mckee, chief economist at independent strategy. bob, did the fed get it right yesterday? did they set the right tone? there were high expectations for that statement. >> i think they did. we got a picture from the fed which said, look, things are improving. we're beginning to see a bottom to the recession, but they're still very cautious. they are still concerned about how -- what the strength of the recovery will be. the consumer is still a big worry. unemployment, as we know, dropped a tiny bit on the official figures, but employment growth is going negative. consumers are spending less, considerably less than the last figures we had for june. that suggests that the fed is still concerned that any recovery is going to be fragile, so their need to provide support for the financial and credit markets to try and give some support to the economy as it tries to come out of the bottom of this recession. >> bob, the fed signaled it will wind down its bond purchasing program by the end of october. who is going to absorb this huge coming o