The central bank only cuts by half-points when there's something dire happening in the economy, such as the bursting of the dot-com bubble in 2001. In extreme cases, the Fed will even slash rates by a full percentage point, as it did in October 2008 amid the global financial crisis.

Twenty-four little hours / Brought the sun and the flowers / Where there used to be rain,” sings Dinah Washington. She could’ve been singing about markets.