As the Fed waves goodbye to Chairman Ben Bernanke, the FOMC decided yesterday to cut its monthly bond-buying program by another $10 billion, trimming purchases to $65 billion. Stocks were quick to wipe out the prior day’s gains, and all three major indexes ended the day down over -1%.
In it’s official statement, the Fed noted that “growth in economic activity picked up in recent quarters”, and that “labor market indicators were mixed but on balance showed further improvement”. The statement made no mention of the turmoil in some emerging markets.
Not only was this Ben Bernanke’s last meeting – it was also the first meeting since June 2011 with no dissent…a signal that officials are supportive of the current strategy as Janet Yellen prepares to take the lead on February 1st.