Federal Reservations

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Fed fund futures declined on Friday after the stronger-than-forecast jobs data, with the biggest moves focused on contracts that expire in 2013 and 2014. The market in effect sees the first rate hike from the Federal Reserve by the summer of 2014 compared to the Fed's guidance that the first hike won't come until the end of 2014 at the earliest. The higher the Fed funds future, the lower the implied interest rate. The effective Fed funds rate was 0.11% on Thursday.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher said Thursday night that the Federal Reserve's economic and interest rate forecasts -- the latter of which was introduced for the first time last week -- are "ultimately pure guesses." Fisher said he has yet to find a single economist who consistently forecasts the economy accurately, and quoted an article saying that a review of similar forecasts from the central banks of New Zealand, Sweden and Norway found them to have no extra informational content beyond the short term. But he said he was "delighted" by the Fed's decision to specify that an inflation rate of 2% -- and no specific unemployment rate target -- is most consistent with its mandate. "Explicitly acknowledging that monetary policy's impact on employment is transitory and uncertain is a cardinal event. It signals to the markets that there are limits to the ultimate job-stoking efficacy of Federal Reserve policy," Fisher said.

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The Federal Reserve should take more steps to boost demand, the president of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank said on Thursday as he continued his campaign for looser policy.

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Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke calls U.S. vulnerable to sudden fiscal crisis if Washington doesn’t come to grips with deficit, backs Rep. Mike Simpson’s call for an “armistice” between Republicans and Democrats

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U.S. stocks waver Thursday after a larger-than-expected drop in weekly jobless claims and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urges Congress to work on deficit.

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U.S. stocks waver Thursday after a larger-than-expected drop in weekly jobless claims and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urges Congress to work on deficit.

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Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke once again urged Congress to put U.S. fiscal policy on a sustainable path, warning Thursday that the nation risks the possibility of a sudden fiscal crisis unless action is taken.

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Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke once again urged Congress to put U.S. fiscal policy on a sustainable path, warning Thursday that the nation risks the possibility of a sudden fiscal crisis unless action is taken.

Originally from MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke once again urged Congress to put U.S. fiscal policy on a sustainable path, warning Thursday that the nation risks the possibility of a sudden fiscal crisis unless action is taken. "Although historical experience and economic theory do no indicate the exact threshold at which the perceived risks associated with the U.S. public debt would increase markedly, we can be sure that, without corrective action, our fiscal trajectory will move the nation ever closer to that point," Bernanke said in testimony prepared for delivery to the House Budget Committee. The Fed chairman said that Congress should also "take care" not to impede the current economic recovery. He said these two goals were fully compatible. Bernanke said the economy is gradually recovering, but it is still vulnerable to shocks. The labor market has shown signs of improvement, he said.

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U.S. stock futures edge upward on Thursday after data on weekly jobless claims and before testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on the state of the economy.

Originally from MarketWatch