The Fed

Tag: The Fed

Fed Chair Breaking All the Rules?

This bit of amusement is brought to you by the University of Oklahoma’s Kevin Grier. Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke opposes a congressional rule that would require the Fed to follow a policy rule.

“The Fed already has a rule,” Mr. Bernanke said during a panel discussion at the Brookings Institution’s Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy. “It’s committed to hitting a 2% inflation target and aiming for the natural rate of unemployment. These are rules.”

And here are the data showing 33 straight months of consumer prices rising at less than 2%:

 

Please Don’t Fed the Bears

The graph shows the trajectory of today’s S&P 500 index (green) and the yield on the 30-year treasury bond (blue).

Reuters weighs in:

The U.S. Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that it would continue buying bonds at an $85 billion monthly pace for now, surprising financial markets that were braced for a reduction in the central bank’s economic stimulus.

Can you guess what time the Fed made the announcement?

Clearly, anyone betting on a Bear market took it in the teeth today (especially if it is just delaying the inevitable).  I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Wednesday UD
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