Once again the Fed's bite has failed to live up to its bark. Despite months of expectations that it would finally raise rates for the first time since 2006, the Fed continued to sit on its hands while pointing to some unspecified date in the future when all the economic and financial stars will align in a way that makes a 25 basis point increase appropriate. Am I the only one getting bored by the repetition?

Just like it has in prior statements, the Fed's Open Market Committee painted a picture of a stable and growing economy that was just about ready for a tightening cycle to begin. Its decision to hold off for now was positioned as a temporary concession to largely overseas developments. But the Fed, and the rest of the economic establishment for that matter, continues to ignore the steady torrent of negative data that reveals a slowing economy. Based on the manufacturing, business investment, productivity, and consumer confidence numbers, the Fed could be preparing a fresh round of stimulus, not readying its first economic sedative in nine years.