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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: elmatador who wrote (35026)	5/21/2008 2:15:46 PM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Respond to of 218916

DJ FOMC Minutes Signal No More Rate Cuts Even If Econ Contracts By Brian Blackstone Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Federal Reserve on Wednesday appeared to shut the door to the possibility of further interest rate cuts, saying in April meeting minutes that the last rate cut was a "close call," and that many officials think future reductions are unlikely even if the economy contracts. Officials also said that while the chances that the economy might be "severely disrupted' had lessened, risks remain skewed to the downside from "bleak" housing and weak labor markets. The minutes, released with the usual three-week lag, support market expectations that the Fed will hold rates steady for an extended period. "Several members noted that it was unlikely to be appropriate to ease policy in response to information suggesting that the economy was slowing further or even contracting," unless there was a "significant" weakening in the outlook, according to the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's April 29-30 meetings. The FOMC, by an 8-2 vote, lowered the target fed-funds rate at which banks lend money to each other by 0.25 percentage point to 2%. It was the seventh cut in as many months, totaling a collective 3.25 percentage points. The Fed lowered the discount rate it charges commercial and investment banks by an equal amount. "Although the likelihood that economic activity would be severely disrupted by a sharp deterioration in financial markets had apparently receded, most members thought that the risks to economic growth were still skewed to the downside," the minutes stated. According to the meeting minutes, "it was no longer appropriate" to cite downside growth risks last month, since they were "now thought to be more closely balanced by the risks to inflation."