Winehole23
03-19-2009, 10:52 AM
Federal Reserve plan stuns investors (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/15eb2de2-13d8-11de-9e32-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1)
By Krishna Guha in Washington
Published: March 18 2009 18:17 | Last updated: March 18 2009 23:40
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday stunned investors by announcing plans to buy $300bn of US government debt, triggering a plunge in bond yields and the dollar.
In a further display of aggression, the US central bank also said it was more than doubling its purchases of securities issued by housing giants Fannie Mae (http://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=us:FNM) and Freddie Mac (http://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=us:FRE) to $1,450bn. It said it now expected to keep interest rates near zero for an “extended period” of time.
EDITOR’S CHOICE (registration is free)
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Treasury bonds gyrate on Fed’s shock move (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4aa726c6-1419-11de-9e32-0000779fd2ac.html) - Mar-19
Short View: Fed’s shock and awe (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/71da8612-13fa-11de-9e32-0000779fd2ac.html) - Mar-18
Fed boosts mortgage and Treasury markets (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1ce3853c-13f0-11de-9e32-0000779fd2ac.html) - Mar-18
Fed move leads to flip-flop charge (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/774380d6-1413-11de-9e32-0000779fd2ac.html) - Mar-18
US stocks spike on Fed plan (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/56575dd6-13c1-11de-9e32-0000779fd2ac.html) - Mar-18
The yield on 10-year US Treasuries plummeted 50 basis points to 2.50 per cent, while private borrowing rates fell by roughly half as much. Equities bounced with big gains in troubled banks such as Citigroup and Bank of America. But the dollar fell 3.2 per cent against the euro and 2.3 per cent against the yen.
Interactive feature
http://media.ft.com/cms/e88ae014-f8ec-11dd-ab7f-000077b07658.jpgQuantitative easing explained (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8ada2ad4-f3b9-11dd-9c4b-0000779fd2ac.html)
Goldman Sachs said the Fed was throwing the “kitchen sink” at the problem. The plan to buy Treasuries caught investors off guard. “It appears that they wanted to give the market a jolt,” said Peter Hooper, an economist at Deutsche Bank.
The last time the central bank attempted to bring down yields on long-term securities through direct intervention came during the ill-fated Operation Twist in the 1960s. Recent comments by Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, and William Dudley, New York Fed president, did not suggest that Treasury purchases were imminent.
But the deterioration in the US outlook, problems rolling out the US financial rescue plan and the Bank of England’s success in buying UK government gilts seem to have persuaded the Fed to act.
Alan Ruskin, a strategist at RBS, said it was a “flip-flop” that “could be cast as a sign of desperation” but “confirmed that Bernanke will do whatever it takes to get some hold of the problem”.
The Fed said it would concentrate on Treasuries with maturities of two to 10 years. It said its objective was to “improve conditions in private credit markets” – not to help the government finance its mounting deficits. The Bank of Japan said it was stepping up its purchases of Japanese government debt by about a third to Y1,800bn a month.
Wednesday’s Fed announcement will increase the size of its balance sheet by another $1,150bn to about $3,000bn even before the roll-out of a $1,000bn scheme to finance credit markets. Once this scheme is fully implemented, its balance sheet could approach $4,000bn – nearly a third the size of the US economy.
A swollen Fed balance sheet runs the risk that the US central bank may find it difficult to manage down the money supply when the economy turns, raising the possibility of inflation.
Gold surged in response to the Fed’s announcement, rocketing from a session low of $884.10 a troy ounce to a high of $942.90, a jump of 6.6 per cent.
By Krishna Guha in Washington
Published: March 18 2009 18:17 | Last updated: March 18 2009 23:40
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday stunned investors by announcing plans to buy $300bn of US government debt, triggering a plunge in bond yields and the dollar.
In a further display of aggression, the US central bank also said it was more than doubling its purchases of securities issued by housing giants Fannie Mae (http://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=us:FNM) and Freddie Mac (http://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/performance.asp?s=us:FRE) to $1,450bn. It said it now expected to keep interest rates near zero for an “extended period” of time.
EDITOR’S CHOICE (registration is free)
Opinion: The quest for a global solution is misguided (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/350a26b2-140d-11de-9e32-0000779fd2ac.html) - Mar-18
Treasury bonds gyrate on Fed’s shock move (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4aa726c6-1419-11de-9e32-0000779fd2ac.html) - Mar-19
Short View: Fed’s shock and awe (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/71da8612-13fa-11de-9e32-0000779fd2ac.html) - Mar-18
Fed boosts mortgage and Treasury markets (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1ce3853c-13f0-11de-9e32-0000779fd2ac.html) - Mar-18
Fed move leads to flip-flop charge (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/774380d6-1413-11de-9e32-0000779fd2ac.html) - Mar-18
US stocks spike on Fed plan (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/56575dd6-13c1-11de-9e32-0000779fd2ac.html) - Mar-18
The yield on 10-year US Treasuries plummeted 50 basis points to 2.50 per cent, while private borrowing rates fell by roughly half as much. Equities bounced with big gains in troubled banks such as Citigroup and Bank of America. But the dollar fell 3.2 per cent against the euro and 2.3 per cent against the yen.
Interactive feature
http://media.ft.com/cms/e88ae014-f8ec-11dd-ab7f-000077b07658.jpgQuantitative easing explained (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8ada2ad4-f3b9-11dd-9c4b-0000779fd2ac.html)
Goldman Sachs said the Fed was throwing the “kitchen sink” at the problem. The plan to buy Treasuries caught investors off guard. “It appears that they wanted to give the market a jolt,” said Peter Hooper, an economist at Deutsche Bank.
The last time the central bank attempted to bring down yields on long-term securities through direct intervention came during the ill-fated Operation Twist in the 1960s. Recent comments by Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, and William Dudley, New York Fed president, did not suggest that Treasury purchases were imminent.
But the deterioration in the US outlook, problems rolling out the US financial rescue plan and the Bank of England’s success in buying UK government gilts seem to have persuaded the Fed to act.
Alan Ruskin, a strategist at RBS, said it was a “flip-flop” that “could be cast as a sign of desperation” but “confirmed that Bernanke will do whatever it takes to get some hold of the problem”.
The Fed said it would concentrate on Treasuries with maturities of two to 10 years. It said its objective was to “improve conditions in private credit markets” – not to help the government finance its mounting deficits. The Bank of Japan said it was stepping up its purchases of Japanese government debt by about a third to Y1,800bn a month.
Wednesday’s Fed announcement will increase the size of its balance sheet by another $1,150bn to about $3,000bn even before the roll-out of a $1,000bn scheme to finance credit markets. Once this scheme is fully implemented, its balance sheet could approach $4,000bn – nearly a third the size of the US economy.
A swollen Fed balance sheet runs the risk that the US central bank may find it difficult to manage down the money supply when the economy turns, raising the possibility of inflation.
Gold surged in response to the Fed’s announcement, rocketing from a session low of $884.10 a troy ounce to a high of $942.90, a jump of 6.6 per cent.