Several on FOMC Said Fed Should Be Ready to Vary QE Pace Several Federal Reserve policy makers said the central bank should be ready to vary the pace of their $85 billion in monthly bond purchases amid a debate over the risks and benefits of further quantitative easing.
The officials “emphasized that the committee should be prepared to vary the pace of asset purchases, either in response to changes in the economic outlook or as its evaluation of the efficacy and costs of such purchases evolved,” according to the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s Jan. 29-30 meeting released today in Washington.
The Federal Open Market Committee begun its two-day meeting on Tuesday, with a monetary-policy announcement and Bernanke's news conference due on Wednesday.
The timing and pace of potential reduction in asset purchases by the Fed is currently buying $85 billion in bonds each month.
On Tuesday, oil futures added 67 cents to settle at $98.44 a barrel, while gold declined to a near four-week low of $1,366.90 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The U.S. dollar(DXY) fell against currency rivals but not against the yen, while the 10-year Treasury yield used in determining mortgage rates and other consumer loans stood at 2.182%.
Fed Beige Book: U.S. Economy Grew at Modest to Moderate Pace in July, August
Central Bank's Survey Shows Expansion Was Led by Consumer Spending on Cars, Housing
The central bank's "beige book" report, a summary of conditions in its 12 districts from early July through late August, was largely positive. Eight districts reported moderate growth, while three said growth was modest. The remaining district, Chicago, said economic activity had improved.
Back-to-school shopping helped boost overall consumer spending, particularly in Boston, Kansas City and Dallas. Sales were mixed in New York, and were more modest in the other districts. Activity in the travel and tourism sectors expanded in most areas.
Demand rose in part from stronger car sales and housing-related goods such as furnishings or home-improvement items, the report said. Still, several regions said consumers remain cautious and "highly price-sensitive."
Lawmakers face a midnight Monday deadline to complete a stopgap spending bill to avoid a partial government shutdown that would keep hundreds of thousands of federal workers off the job, close national parks and generate damaging headlines for whichever side the public holds responsible.
On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said the government will have exhausted its borrowing authority by Oct. 17, leaving the United States just $30 billion cash on hand to pay its bills.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
* New York premiums are the same for all ages. ** Vermont premiums are the same for all ages.
NOTE: Premiums shown above are a weighted average of the lowest-cost silver plan, the second lowest cost silver plan, and the lowest cost bronze plan in each rating area within the 36 Supported State-based Marketplaces, State Partnership Marketplaces and Federally Facilitated Marketplaces as of Sept. 18, as well as 12 State-based Marketplaces. The rating area weights are constructed based on county-level population under the age of 65. For State-based Marketplaces, premiums are a weighted average across all rating areas for California and New York, and are for the entire state in Rhode Island and Vermont and in D.C. For the remaining states, premiums are for the following rating areas: Denver, Colo.; Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven, Conn.; Baltimore, Md.; Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle, Wash. Age weighting for all states is based on expected age distribution in the marketplaces, estimated by the RAND Corporation.
The three-year effort to open the Obamacare health-insurance exchanges culminates today, beset by logistical delays and a U.S. government shutdown borne of Republican opposition to the Affordable Care Act.
Even states that have cooperated with the rollout are downplaying the debut of the marketplaces to avoid having their websites and call centers overwhelmed. Federally run exchanges in 36 states opened at 8 a.m. Washington, D.C., time. There were indications some states were delaying their startup times by hours and some services by days.
If a stop-gap spending bill for the new fiscal year is not passed before midnight on Monday, government agencies and programs deemed non-essential will begin closing their doors for the first time in 17 years.
The high-stakes chess match in Congress will resume on Monday when the Democratic-controlled Senate reconvenes at 2 p.m. Senate Democrats will then attempt to strip two Republican amendments from the spending bill: the one that delays the 2010 healthcare law known as Obamacare and another to repeal a medical device tax that would help pay for the program.
They would then send a bill with a simple extension of government spending back to the House, putting the legislative hot potato back in Republican House Speaker John Boehner's lap as the shutdown looms.
The move tosses a political hot potato back to Republican House Speaker John Boehner, leaving him a choice of whether to accept it and keep government agencies funded or try another move to rein in President Barack Obama's healthcare law.
And if the battle over "Obamacare" pushes up to the mid-October deadline to raise the debt ceiling, U.S. stocks may suffer. When gridlock threatened a debt default in 2011, the Dow Jones industrials fell about 2,100 points from July 21 to August 9, with the market needing two more months to regain its footing.
Under a government shutdown, more than a million federal employees would be furloughed from their jobs, with the impact depending on the duration of a shutdown.
The U.S. government shutdown is beginning to hit the factory floor, with major manufacturers like Boeing Co (BA.N) and United Technologies Corp (UTX.N) warning of delays and employee furloughs in the thousands if the budget impasse persists.
Companies that rely on federal workers to inspect and approve their products or on government money to fund their operations said they are preparing to slow or stop work if the first government shutdown in 17 years continues into next week.
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
