In light of the slightly weaker payroll reading for September, while some might be looking forward to the implications for monetary policy, it’s worth asking another question to arrive at the same answer. Considering the 156,000 reading for jobs last month, might the FOMC have regretted raising rates when it had the opportunity to do so three weeks ago? After all, the unemployment rate ticked up a notch to 5% for September.

It didn’t take long for investors to understand that more stimulus than expected following Thursday’s European Central Bank meeting was likely to reset the tone. So much for the recent plunge in oil prices and how it gave global stock markets a bearish tinge to start the year.

Roughly one month ago, the price of a gold futures contract expiring in December was trading at just above $1,200 per ounce. In the past few days a so-called “bear raid” on the gold market in general has driven its price down close to $1,080.