The Fed plans on winding down the printing press

[Tilted]

Fed Extends Bond Purchases Until October But Not Amount

The US Federal Reserve said Wednesday the economy was showing signs of leveling out after 20 months of recession and it will extend the duration but not the size of a program to buy long-term government securities to minimize any disruptions from completing it.

The U.S. central bank also kept its benchmark short-term interest rate steady near zero and said it would likely stay there for an extended period.

"To promote a smooth transition in markets as these purchases of Treasury securities are completed, the committee has decided to gradually slow the pace of these transactions and anticipates that the full amount will be purchased by the end of October," the Fed said in a statement at the conclusion of its policy-setting meeting.

The Fed launched the debt buying program in March when it had already chopped interest rates to zero but wanted to open the money taps even wider to support the struggling economy.

Treasury purchases were previously scheduled to expire in September. "They see the worst with the economy is behind us but they don't want to jump the gun and pull back quickly," said Craig Thomas, a senior economist at PNC Financial Services in Pittsburgh.

This is good news - in a now-that-I've-eaten-two-pizzas-and-a-gallon-of-ice-cream-I'll-start-pushing-away-from-the-dinner-table kind of way.

So, now we'll just concentrate on financing our deficit spending by borrowing the money, instead of (un-noticeably) stealing some of it in little bits and pieces from everyone that has a dollar bill in their pocket.

Can we get one more round of applause for the miracle of quantitative easing?

 

[Larry Gude]

Fed Extends Bond Purchases Until October But Not Amount



This is good news - in a now-that-I've-eaten-two-pizzas-and-a-gallon-of-ice-cream-I'll-start-pushing-away-from-the-dinner-table kind of way.

So, now we'll just concentrate on financing our deficit spending by borrowing the money, instead of (un-noticeably) stealing some of it in little bits and pieces from everyone that has a dollar bill in their pocket.

Can we get one more round of applause for the miracle of quantitative easing?

Whoop-eee