The minutes from the Federal Reserve's September Federal Open Market Committee meeting were released Thursday. The Fed Minutes detail the discussions and debates which shaped the central banker's launch of its third round of qualitative easing since 2008. The minutes also give Wall Street insight into future monetary policy. At 6,987 words, the Fed Minutes provides a level of detail that was unavailable via the FOMC's post-meeting press release, a documen that, by contrast, ran 562 words. Despite its large word count, there was very little that was new or surprising in the Fed … [Read more...]
Simple Explanation Of The Federal Reserve Statement (September 13 , 2012)
The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged within its current target range of 0.000-0.250 percent Thursday. For the eighth consecutive meeting, the vote was nearly unanimous. Just one FOMC member, Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker, dissented in the 9-1 vote. The Fed Funds Rate has been near zero percent since December 2008. In its press release, the Federal Reserve noted that the U.S. economy has been expanding "at a moderate pace" in recent months, led by growth in household spending. However, "strains in global financial markets" … [Read more...]
FOMC Expected To Announce New Stimulus Today
The Federal Open Market Committee ends a 2-day meeting today, the group's sixth of 8 scheduled meetings this year. As a Phoenix home buyer or would-be refinancer, be ready for mortgage rates to change. The Federal Open Market Committee is a 12-person sub-committee of the Federal Reserve. Led by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, it's the group within the Fed tasked with voting on U.S. monetary policy. The act for which the FOMC is most well-known is its management of the Fed Funds Rate. The Fed Funds Rate is the interest rate at which banks borrow money from each other overnight. It's one of … [Read more...]
Mortgage Rates Dropping After Release Of Fed Minutes
Eariler this week, the Federal Reserve released the minutes from its 2-day meeting which ended August 1, 2012. Since the release, mortgage rates have dropped. The Fed Minutes are released on a schedule, three weeks after the FOMC adjourns from one of its 8 scheduled meetings of the year. The Fed Minutes are meeting minutes; like you'd see after a corporation shareholder meeting, or after a condo board meeting. Specifically, the Fed Minutes details the conversations among Federal Reserve members which shape our nation's economic policy. The most recent Fed Minutes show a central bank … [Read more...]
Simple Explanation Of The Federal Reserve Statement (August 1 , 2012)
The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged within its current target range of 0.000-0.250 percent Wednesday. The vote was nearly unanimous. Only one FOMC member, Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker, dissented in the 9-1 vote. The Fed Funds Rate has been near zero percent since December 2008. In its press release, the Federal Reserve noted that the U.S. economy has "decelerated somewhat" since January. Beyond the next few quarters, though, the Fed expects growth to "remain moderate" and then gradually pick up. There was no mention of … [Read more...]