September 23, 2009 – 4:39 am
Stocks are flat and the US dollar is nearing 2009 lows as the Federal Reserve prepares to release its monetary policy statement this afternoon. It’s a near certainty that the central bank will hold short-term interest rates in the zero to 0.25% band, which puts the focus on the Fed’s economic outlook and any mention of its exit strategy.
“We would be amazed to see anything in the FOMC statement today that even resembles a hint that the Fed is preparing to withdraw any of the net monetary policy support to the economy,” said Ian Shepherdson from High Frequency Economics. “The U.S. economy is now performing better because, and only because, of the policy intervention, both monetary and fiscal,” he added....(
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