Wall Street Whiplash: What's Behind the Market Volatility?

What is behind the recent market volatility?

The Fed and oil, according to former Goldman Sachs Partner Peter Kiernan.

“Friday, [the DJIA was] down nearly 400. Monday (yesterday) up 230. This morning, down [more than 200 points]. You want to tell us what’s going on?” FBN’s Stuart Varney asked Kiernan.

“Volatility went up 48% in a single day. We are really talking about a sea change and the sea change is important. What’s happened in a nutshell is the Fed has turned into a debating society. And the problem with that is -- who is the real opinion that matters? These are bright, articulate, intelligent people. One opinion matters—and that’s Janet Yellen’s,” Kiernan told FBN’s Stuart Varney.

“So this is all about the Fed?,” asked Varney.

“You have the Fed in there, [and] oil -- and one of the things that people keep looking for is the supply, demand balance,” said Kiernan.

“The countries have borrowed too much money so they have to pump, pump, pump to pay down debt and the producers, particularly in the United States, have borrowed heavily, so they too have to pump, pump, pump because they’ve got to pay the bank,” he said.

“So what we have is too much supply, and too little demand,” he said. “We [in the U.S.] have a lot of producers – we are now Saudi America… We produce as much oil as just about anybody else that matters.”