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To: Terry Rose who wrote (11037)	4/30/1998 10:29:00 PM
From: robnhood	Respond to of 116952

Tip Toe thru the Tulips, Come Tip Toe with me... rdrr

To: Terry Rose who wrote (11037)	5/1/1998 4:31:00 AM
From: Alex	Respond to of 116952

Fed unlikely to raise rates soon, magazine says WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise key interest rates soon even though Chairman Alan Greenspan is increasingly worried about rising stock prices, Business Week reported in its May 11 issue. Despite a reported vote to lean toward a stance of increased willingness to raise short-term rates during the Fed's last rate meeting on March 31, the odds for an actual rate rise are low, it said. An advance copy of the article was made available to Reuters ahead of its publication on Friday. Greenspan last Saturday attended the annual dinner of White House correspondents as a guest of Business Week. The magazine did not quote the central bank chief directly. It said Greenspan agreed to change the bias in favor of higher rates only ''to appease Fed hawks who have been clamoring -- ever more vociferously -- for a rate hike'', but not because he actually plans to raise rates. Business Week said Greenspan had recently become less worried about the possible effects of Asia's financial crisis on the U.S. economy, and that he was instead focusing more and more on the effects of recent sharp gains in equity prices. ''He's less anxious about Asia,'' the commentary said. ''He's fretting that the torrid run-up in stock prices could overheat the economy.'' But both the fact that inflation is low -- consumer prices in March rose a mere 1.4 percent from a year ago -- and that the Fed would come under political fire if it raised rates now would keep him from agreeing to such a step, the article said. ''The Fed chief is certainly mindful of the steep political price he would pay for boosting rates now,'' it noted. Business Week said anti-inflation hawks inside the Fed, among them board member Laurence Meyer, did not fully believe Greenspan's argument that the economy can expand at a faster clip than before because of higher productivity growth. ''The debate within the Fed may become moot if the economy slows down this summer, as many still expect,'' it said. ''If the stock market cools off as well, Greenspan and the inflation hawks can relax.'' The Fed has kept key rates on hold since March of last year. Its rate-setting committee next meets on May 19.