Stocks are mixed in early trading Friday after a three-day funk caused by worries that a Federal Reserve meeting next week will be the beginning of the end for generous monetary policies.

The Fed has been buying $85 billion per month in bonds to keep markets fluid and interest rates low, and the stimulus has sent investors into stocks as they seek higher returns. The big indexes are up 20 percent or more this year.

Guessing when the stimulus will end has become a parlor game for investors, who are stuck between betting that it will end soon, meaning stocks could decline, versus betting that it will continue, and bring the bull market along with it.

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