•The FOMC decision to set to be released today at 14:15 (There will be no Bernanke press conference): Below is summary of recent FOMC voting member comments:
•On 3/1 Fed Governor Sarah Raskin said raising rates prematurely would discourage business investment; says balance sheet reduction not likely to begin before 2015.
•On 2/29 Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the decline in the unemployment rate over the past year has been somewhat more rapid than might have been expected, given that the economy appears to have been growing during that time frame at or below its longer-term trend; continued improvement in the job market is likely to require stronger growth in final demand and production.
•On 2/8 - San Francisco Fred President John Williams indicated that the economy may need more accommodation if the recovery loses momentum and inflation stays below 2%. He said the best way to do this is for the Fed to buy Mortgage Backed Securities. He also expects the unemployment rate to remain over 8 percent well into next year and still be well over 7 percent at the end of 2014.
•On 2/2 Bernanke said he is not tolerating higher inflation.