Now that the Feds have intervened in the markets in every which way imaginable, one might wonder why the volatility is higher than ever.  The reason is simple....by intervening erratically and in ways that nobody could ever imagine, they have created more uncertainty and volatility as investors wonder what the hell they will do next.  It seems that the treasury and the Fed can now do whatever they want to do (except save Lehman Brothers) and force financial institutions to comply as in this last forced equity investment scheme that did not allow the big banks to say no. The confusion they have created is on several levels:  one the one hand they are printing massive amount of dollars saddling future generations with more debt, promising a positive return on this money while snickering behind closed doors. The investing public is not stupid.  On the other hand they have done very little to help out the physical housing market where prices continue to go down, continuing the growing feeling that 2009 will be a depression.