Tag Archives: Fed March

News, Politics, Government

Minutes show Fed supports stimulus through midyear

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A majority of Federal Reserve policymakers want to continue extraordinary bond purchases to help boost the U.S. economy at least through the middle of the year, according to minutes from the Fed’s last meeting released Wednesday.

But many members indicated they want to slow and eventually end the program before the end of the year, as long as the job market and economy show sustained improvement. The Fed’s purchases of about $85 billion a month in Treasury and mortgage bonds are intended to lower long-term interest rates and encourage more borrowing and spending.

The minutes of the Fed’s March 19-20 meeting were released at 9 a.m. EDT — five hours earlier than planned — after the Fed inadvertently sent them a day earlier to congressional staffers and lobbyists.

“One gets the sense that many Fed policymakers are anxious to start paring back the size of the … purchases as soon as the data allow,” Dana Saporta, an economist at Credit Suisse, said in a note to clients.

Still, a weak employment report released Friday is likely to make policymakers even more supportive of keeping the measures in place for the foreseeable future.

The report showed employers added just 88,000 net jobs last month. That was the fewest in nine months and much lower than the average of 220,000 jobs a month created from November through February.

The unemployment rate dropped to a four-year low of 7.6 percent last month. However, the rate fell only because more people stopped looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.

In its statement after the last meeting, the Fed said the economy had strengthened but still needed its efforts to help lower high unemployment. In addition to continuing the bond purchases, the Fed stuck by its plan to keep short-term interest rates at record lows at least until unemployment falls to 6.5 percent.

The minutes indicated that many of the Fed’s members want to see sustained improvement in the job market — from a wide range of economic indicators — before making any decision to reduce the pace of purchases.

Stocks rose sharply after the minutes were released. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 16 points to 1,585 in midday trading — above its all-time

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

Articles of Interest

Federal Reserve Minutes, Accidently Released Early, Reveal Division Over Way To End Stimulus

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By The Huffington Post News Editors

WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve policymakers are divided over when to end extraordinary measures intended to encourage more borrowing and spending to help stimulate the U.S. economy, according to minutes of the Fed’s last meeting released Wednesday.

The minutes of the Fed’s March 19-20 meeting were released at 9 a.m. EDT – five hours earlier than planned – after the Fed inadvertently sent them a day earlier to congressional staffers and lobbyists.

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More on Stimulus

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post

News, Politics, Government

Minutes: Fed divided over when to end stimulus

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Federal Reserve policymakers are divided over when to end extraordinary measures intended to encourage more borrowing and spending to help stimulate the U.S. economy, according to minutes of the Fed’s last meeting released Wednesday.

The minutes of the Fed’s March 19-20 meeting were released at 9 a.m. EDT — five hours earlier than planned — after the Fed inadvertently sent them a day earlier to congressional staffers and lobbyists.

The report showed that a few members want to end “relatively soon” a program that is spending $85 billion a month to purchases bonds. Those members say the costs likely outweigh the benefits. A few others saw the risks as increasing quickly and said the purchases would likely need to be reduced “before long.”

Many members said an improved job market could lead them to slow purchases within a few months, and a few said economic conditions would likely justify continuing the program until late this year.

Despite the division over when to end the program, the minutes indicated that many of the Fed’s members want to see sustained improvement in the job market — from a wide range of economic indicators — before making any decision to reduce the pace of purchases.

After the March meeting, the Fed said the economy had strengthened but that it still needed its efforts to help lower high unemployment. In addition to continuing the bond purchases, the Fed stuck by its plan to keep short-term interest rates at record lows at least until unemployment falls to 6.5 percent.

The economy had added an average of 220,000 jobs a month from November through February, including 268,000 jobs in February — the last report available when the Fed met in March.

But a weak March employment report is likely to make policymakers even more supportive of keeping the measures in place for the foreseeable future. Employers added just 88,000 net jobs last month, the fewest in nine months.

The unemployment rate dropped to a four-year low of 7.6 percent. However, the rate fell only because more people stopped looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Intel Stock Is Leading the Dow's Surge

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By Dan Dzombak, The Motley Fool

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up as the technology and health care sectors rally following an early release of the Fed’s March meeting minutes. As of 1:15 p.m. EDT the Dow is up 143 points, or 0.98%, to 14,816. The S&P 500 is up 1.2% to 1,587.

The Federal Reserve was supposed to release the Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes at 2 p.m. EDT. However, they were inadvertently released early to some congressional staffers. After discovering the mishap, the Fed released the minutes to all parties. The minutes revealed that there was disagreement over the continued asset purchases under QE3 and that committee members were unsure how fiscal policies would impact the economy. The committee is expected to continue QE3 until there is inflation above 2% or the jobs market significantly strengthens.

Intel stock is leading the Dow today, up 2.9%. Intel stock has jumped over the past two days for a few reasons. First, on Monday the company previewed its newest Thunderbolt technology, which will be able to move data at 20 Gbs — double its current speed. Then, on Tuesday, Intel announced that it had sent samples of its newest server chips to customers and, more importantly, that its newest chips would be included in Hewlett-Packard‘s new Moonshot servers.

Investors had been worried that the Moonshot servers would come equipped with ARM‘s newest chips. Investors are heaving a sigh of relief that Intel chips will initially power the Moonshot servers, as it shows that Intel is staying at the leading edge of the chip market. HP is touting its Moonshot servers for their cost-saving ability. According to studies done by HP, the Moonshot servers use 90% less energy and take up 80% less space than traditional servers, translating into cost savings of nearly 80%.

Last year Intel stock was one of the Dow’s worst performers, finishing down 15%. The drop in share price raised Intel’s dividend yield high enough to get it on the list of the 2013 Dogs of the Dow. So far in 2013, Intel has missed out on the Dow’s 13% rally, rising just 5.5% as of yesterday. While some investors believe Intel stock represents a good value now, others see Intel losing out in a more mobile world.

When it comes to dominating markets, it doesn’t get much better than Intel’s position in the PC microprocessor arena. However, that market is maturing, and Intel must find new avenues for growth. In this premium research report on Intel, our analyst runs through all of the key topics investors should understand about the chip giant. Click here now to learn more.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Fed Releases Minutes Early After Giving Them to Hill Staffers, Lobbyists

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By The Associated Press

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Joeff Davis/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesFederal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaking Monday at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta 2013 Financial Markets Conference in Stone Mountain, Ga.

WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve policymakers are divided over when to end extraordinary measures intended to encourage more borrowing and spending to help stimulate the U.S. economy, according to minutes of the Fed’s last meeting released Wednesday.

The minutes of the Fed’s March 19-20 meeting were released at 9 a.m. EDT — five hours earlier than planned — after the Fed inadvertently sent them a day earlier to congressional staffers and lobbyists.

The report showed that a few members want to end “relatively soon” a program that is spending $85 billion a month to purchases bonds. Those members say the costs likely outweigh the benefits. A few others saw the risks as increasing quickly and said the purchases would likely need to be reduced “before long.”

Many members said an improved job market could lead them to slow purchases within a few months, and a few said economic conditions would likely justify continuing the program until late this year.

Despite the division over when to end the program, the minutes indicated that many of the Fed’s members want to see sustained improvement in the job market — from a wide range of economic indicators — before making any decision to reduce the pace of purchases.

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After the March meeting, the Fed said the economy had strengthened but that it still needed its efforts to help lower high unemployment. In addition to continuing the bond purchases, the Fed stuck by its plan to keep short-term interest rates at record lows at least until unemployment falls to 6.5 percent.

The economy had added an average of 220,000 jobs a month from November through February, including 268,000 jobs in February — the last report available when the Fed met in March.

But a weak March employment report is likely to make policymakers even more supportive of keeping the measures in place for the foreseeable future. Employers added just 88,000 net jobs last month, the fewest in nine months.

The unemployment rate dropped to a four-year low of 7.6 percent. However, the rate fell only because more people stopped looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance