FOMC

The Federal Reserve just cut its growth outlook for 2011, and 2012 as well, and the markets are ticking up a little bit on this. The Fed cut its 2011 growth forecast to 2.7% to 2.9%, down from 3.1-3.3%. It also revised unemployment for 2011 higher, going to 8.6%-8.9%. It had been previously at 8...

On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee concluded its two-day meeting on U.S. monetary policy. Following the meeting, the Fed released a statement outlining its assessment of the economy. In the statement, the Fed described the pace of the economic recovery as being weaker than...

The markets are hugging the flat line, as Wall Street and the world will be watching and waiting to hear what the FOMC and Chairmen Ben Bernanke have to say regarding interest rates, as well as the press conference at 2:30 p.m. At last check, the Dow was off 8 points, the NASDAQ was fractionally...

The three major indexes have nearly erased all of their losses, and the S&P 500 has turned positive, as traders await word out of the FOMC later today. At last check, the Dow was off 9 points, the NASDAQ was off 2.5 points and the S&P was up fractionally. The FOMC is going to release its...

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares are extending the gains from yesterday, which is one reason the NASDAQ has moved off its lows of the session. The NASDAQ had been down as much as 7 points, but is now only off 3 points as traders await results from the FOMC today. Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a...

This is your Benzinga news summary and traders' outlook for Wednesday, June 22, 2011, covering headlines from overnight and Wednesday's pre-market session. Today in domestic pre-market trading, U.S. equity futures are trading lower as the U.S. dollar is slightly higher this morning as investors...

The Federal Reserve's two-day FOMC meeting concludes on Wednesday, and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to hold his second-ever press conference to outline the state of the economy. Interest rates are expected to hold steady, so the language of Bernanke and the FOMC will be highly scrutinized...

Brian Sozzi of Wall Street Strategies is out with a research note on tomorrow's FOMC meeting, as well as press conference that Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke will have after. Sozzi goes on to note that the Fed's view that inflation in commodity prices were "transitory" has been largely spot...

The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee were released on Wednesday at 2pm and preceded a rally in the U.S. Dollar Index. The index had been falling for most of the trading session, right up until the release of the FOMC's minutes. Within the following hour, the index climbed back near its...

The minutes of the recent FOMC meeting were released on Wednesday. They revealed that, while the FOMC had discussed a potential exit strategy in depth, its members were divided on exactly how to go about that exit. Most members of the FOMC agreed that ceasing mortgage back securities re-investment...

All we've heard about recently is how the U.S. dollar has been beat up like a red-headed step child, trading around 74, recently. The dollar is down roughly 6% on the year, and coincidentally, or not, depending upon who you talk to, the S&P 500 is up the same amount. Federal Reserve Chairman...

Copper is getting hit hard today, down over 1% as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke holds his first ever press conference after the FOMC meeting concludes today. Copper is a leading indicator of economic demand, as it's used it pretty much everything, from housing, wires, and thus higher...

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Federal Reserve's policy-setting body, is scheduled to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. At the conclusion of this two-day policy meeting, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold an unprecedented press briefing to answer questions about the...

The Federal reserve left interest rates unchanged, and saw stable inflation. Suggests economic recovery on strong footing. Vote was unanimous. The FOMC said that unemployment rate remains elevated. It repeated its intention to purchase $600 billion in bonds from QE2and finish by the end of...

Fed pledges to keep rates low for extended period. Business spending on equipment and software is rising. Household spending is higher but is also constrained by unemployment. The FOMC maintains its plan to prevent the balance sheet from shrinking. The Fed also adds that employment has slowed...