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Strategies & Market Trends : Systems, Strategies and Resources for Trading Futures -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Trader who wrote (35194)	10/5/1999 8:56:00 AM
From: Chip McVickar	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 44573

Good Morning Tom, Tuesday October 5, 1:52 am Eastern Time Fed Expected To Stand Pat on Rates By JEANNINE AVERSA Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- As the nation's economy purrs smoothly with no immediate inflation dangers at hand, the Federal Reserve is expected, for now, to forgo a third interest rate increase, private economists believe. They aren't ruling out the possibility of higher rates before year's end. Many analysts are taking this view because inflation has remained well-behaved despite strong economic growth and an unemployment rate remaining at a 29-year low. A rate increase is ''a no-go -- primarily because there's not a sufficient amount of data suggesting continued inflationary pressures,'' said Richard Yamarone, senior economist with Argus Research Corp. The Federal Open Market Committee, which comprises Fed board members in Washington and the presidents of the Fed's 12 regional banks, planned to meet privately today to review interest rate policy. Financial markets eagerly awaited a midafternoon announcement of their decision. There's another reason economists believe the central bank won't raise interest rates today. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan usually gives investors a solid sign of an impending interest rate increase. But he and other Fed officials haven't done that, striking instead a more dovish tone. That indicates they've seen few signs of inflation even with rapid economic growth, economists said. ''What we've heard from people on the Fed, including Chairman Greenspan, doesn't point to an interest rate increase,'' said Tim O'Neill, chief economist for the Bank of Montreal and Harris Bank. Wall Street appeared to take the view Monday that the Fed will hold the line for the time being. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 128.23 points at 10,401.23. But even with the rebound, stocks are down almost 1,000 points from their record close of 11,299.76 on Aug. 23, just before the last Fed rate increase. Although the economy slowed in the second quarter to an anemic 1.6 percent annual rate, many economists said that was just a temporary lull. They are looking for the economy to grow at around a 4 percent rate in both the third and fourth quarters, far above the 3 percent rate many Fed policy-makers believe is prudent with today's tight labor market. Given that, many economists believe the Fed may raise rates this year by a quarter of a point when it meets on Nov. 16, depending on what a fresh round of economic data released between now and then -- including two employment reports and several inflation reports -- says about the economy. ''The Fed still thinks rates need to go up a notch,'' said Cynthia Latta, senior economist at Standard & Poor's DRI. ''But they won't do it Tuesday. They will wait until November.'' One more quarter-point rate increase would move the short-term rates the Fed controls back to where they were before the central bank cut rates in three quarter-point moves last fall to keep financial turmoil in Asia and Russia from derailing the U.S. economy. On June 30, the Fed nudged up the federal funds rate -- the interest that banks charge each other -- by a quarter of a point, the first time in two years. It raised the funds rate again, by the same amount, to 5.25 percent, on Aug. 24. Banks quickly responded to each of those increases by boosting prime lending rates by a quarter of a point. That benchmark rate for millions of consumer and business loans now stands at 8.25 percent. Economists were split on whether the Fed will keep its policy directive, which signals the future course of interest rates, at neutral or switch it to one leaning toward raising rates. The Fed had been expected to leave rates alone at both their Nov. 16 and Dec. 21 meetings because of anxiety about the Year 2000 computer date change. But more and more analysts now believe that Y2K won't stop the Fed from acting because they have grown more confident that banks have made computer upgrades needed to handle any problems. ''Y2K has gone so smoothly -- domestically -- it's not a constraint on the Fed anymore,'' said Ken Mayland, an economist with KeyCorp. biz.yahoo.com

To: Tom Trader who wrote (35194)	10/5/1999 9:43:00 AM
From: Patrick Slevin	Respond to of 44573

I'll check Futures once I get a chance to finish my taxes..... I'm close, I think. Bonneville also is rather good but very pricey. I find it's good to keep two feeds minimum, with the ability to swap out various ways....for example I can shift feed to either of three machines, three Cable ISPs, and two "normal" ISPs. SatFeed isn't practical around here. FM Feed has pretty much gone the way of the dinosaur. < I now understand how people must feel when they can't reach their brokers to enter a trade that -- esp if they need to close out a trade that is going against them -- and in their case it is real money on the line.> And of course, even though I don't like to use Stops it's nice to place one far from the action, anyway.....just in case. I have the day as somewhat bullish (at least until it gets close to announcement time, when the astounding rumors are unmatched by all but the astounding swings) but I'm too strung out to trade it seriously. Good luck today.