Categories: BankingPolitics

Fed Expected to Announce Further $10 Billion Taper Today

DonkeyHotey

Fed Expected to Announce Further $10 billion Taper Today (Reuters)

Turmoil in emerging markets and a month of disappointing job growth at home are unlikely to deter the Federal Reserve from cutting its bond-buying stimulus on Wednesday, as Ben Bernanke presides at his last policy meeting as head of the U.S. central bank. Signs of improvement in the U.S. economy suggest Fed officials will stay on track to cut monthly purchases of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities by $5 billion each, bringing the total of their monthly asset purchases to $65 billion. Bernanke took the Fed far into uncharted territory during his eight years as chair, building a $4 trillion balance sheet and keeping interest rates near zero for more than five years to spur the economy after its worst slump in decades. Vice Chair Janet Yellen will replace Bernanke as Fed chair on Feb. 1.

Paul Dykewicz

Paul Dykewicz is the editor of StockInvestor.com and the editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C. He writes and edits for the website, as well as edits investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts and other reports published by Eagle. He also is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, USA Today and other publications, as well as served as business editor of a daily newspaper in Baltimore. In addition, Paul is the author of the inspirational book, "Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame's Championship Chaplain." He received his MBA in finance from Johns Hopkins University, where he was a two-time president of the school's Finance Club. In addition, Paul has a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and a master's degree in journalism from Michigan State University. Outside of work, Paul volunteers with a faith-based organization to assist the poor in Southeast Washington, D.C., to learn personal finance skills to lift themselves out of debt.