Commentary The announcement of a balance sheet taper sent equity buyers into overdrive as they aggressively bought every dip in stocks regardless of the news flow. The relentless bid has propelled stocks to new all-time highs without any regard to the next round of tapering from the Federal Reserve coming mid-January. While the Fed has never reduced its balance sheet by $30 billion in one move, the Bulls look to history to support their risk-taking behavior. On June 19, 2013, Federal Open Market Committee meeting chairman Ben Bernanke announced it would be appropriate to begin tapering its balance sheet purchases under the third iteration of quantitative easing later that year, provided the incoming data remained favorable. By December 2013, the Fed felt the economy was on track to achieving the Fed’s mandate of maximum employment and announced tapering would begin immediately. Investors celebrated the Fed’s announcement of a gradual balance …