Fed Minutes Reveal “Uncertainty”

Are you ready for this one? The minutes of the last Fed meeting showed that members are, get this, uncertain about the state of the economy.

Well, now we know!

Minutes released Tuesday of the most recent meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed panel that sets monetary policy, revealed that a considerable number of central bank officials “consider it appropriate to take action soon,” given the persistently high unemployment rate and the uncomfortably low inflation rate.

But other Fed officials “saw merit in accumulating further information before reaching a decision,” according to the minutes of the Sept. 21 meeting, which lasted 5 hours and 10 minutes, longer than usual — an indication of the differences of opinion that can accompany any policy decision.

Most Wall Street analysts now expect the committee to decide, at its meeting on Nov. 2 and 3, to resume the debt-buying strategy, known as quantitative easing. But the minutes suggested that while that outcome is certainly possible, it is not a done deal.

At first, Wall Street rallied slightly on the uncertainty bombshell. After about 15 minutes, they had second thoughts. Feel the excitement!

Posted by on October 12th, 2010 at 2:37 pm


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