So the numbers for the first quarter are nearly all in. And the economic picture they paint are dire, to say the least. To put in a single word: Depression is all that seems to match.

First looking at labor: 33 million workers laid off, an unemployment rate published at 14%, but by the more broadly based U-6 measure: unemployment already exceeds 20%.

So far two thirds of the Standard and Poor's 500 Companies have reported, and earnings are down over 13% on the quarter.

In the commodities markets: both oil and copper two of the most reliable leading indicators of industrial production both down for the year.

And the list goes on and on.

So what's the Federal Reserve to do?