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To: Wayners who wrote (84)	9/29/1998 9:27:00 AM
From: Capt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 141

Wake-Up Call: Stocks Show Positive Bent as Market Counts Down to 2:15 By Justin Lahart Senior Writer 9/29/98 9:16 AM ET The Federal Open Market Committee meets today, and for the first time in over a year, it matters. It is such a certainty that the Fed will ease rates today that the debate has moved to whether it will cut the fed funds target by 0.25% or by 0.5%. There's also a lot of chatter about the possibility that the Fed will also cut the discount rate, the interest rate commercial banks and other depository institutions pay when they borrow from regional Fed banks. That rate hasn't budged in nearly three years. The possible rate-cut combinations -- a 25-basis-point cut in the fed funds rate coupled with a 50-basis-point cut in the discount rate; a 50-basis-point cut in the fed funds rate with no cut in the discount rate, etc. -- have sent Wall Street into all kinds of paroxysms. There are some who say, for instance, that a 25-basis-point cut in the fed funds rate would be too light, and stocks would sell off. There are others who say that a 50-basis-point cut would suggest that things are pretty bad out there and scare the market. Hence the thought that the discount rate may get clipped -- more symbolic, such a move would suggest more cuts to come. It also comes with an explanatory note, which seems to fit the Fed's purposes. If the main reason for easing is to calm nervous markets, why not offer a little guidance to make damn sure it happens?