Your Economy (No Politics)

[Bullwinkle]

Parsing The FED
by Barry Ritholtz
December 13, 2005


THE FED'S STATEMENTS reflect how the members of the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee perceive the economy. Their words have world-wide impact and the slightest changes are scrutinized for clues about where interest rates may be headed.

The Dec. 13 statement announced that the Fed was raising its key short-term interest rate by one-quarter point to 4.25%, its 13th increase in a row, amid steady economic growth and relatively low core inflation. But the Fed signaled that it is less certain on its future rate actions than it has been in more than a year. Below is a look at differences between the December statement and the November one.



Graphic courtesy of WSJ

Source:
PARSING THE FED
No 'Accommodation'
WSJ, Dec. 13, 2005
http://online.wsj.com/documents/info-fedparse0512.html