Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Fed's "Operation Twist"

22 Sept, 2011

US Federal Reserve is shifting $400 billion from short- to long-term Treasury securities to push interest rates down and encourage companies to borrow and spend.

Impact on US Economy -

Fed’s efforts could add about 0.4 percentage points to economic output and create about 350,000 jobs.

Impact on US Markets -

Markets fell sharply (Dow Jones more than 2 % down). The markets expected a balance sheet expansion, instead Fed is simply moving money from less riskier short term securities to more risky long term securities to bring down interest rates by a few tenths of a percentage point, a significant increment when multiplied by the vast extent of borrowing.

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