Federal Open Market Committee

Some of the major business and economic events scheduled for this week: Tuesday Federal Open Market Committee meets to review interest rates. Wednesday * Commerce Department releases figures for March international trade. * Treasury Department releases April budget statement. Thursday * Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims data. Friday * Federal Reserve Board releases minutes of March 25 meeting of Federal Open Market Committee.

WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve policymakers signaled for the first time that they could "increase or reduce" their controversial efforts to stimulate the economy in the future, but for now they're holding pat. After a two-day policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 11 to 1 to maintain its rock-bottom interest rates and continue its so-called quantitative easing program of purchasing $85 billion of Treasury and mortgage-backed securities...

Fed Panel Leaned Toward Easier Credit: Federal Reserve policy-makers voted 12-0 to leave interest rates unchanged in early February but agreed to be alert to the need for easing credit to stimulate a fragile economy, according to Fed minutes. The record of the Federal Open Market Committee meetings Feb. 4-5 showed the panel agreed to keep credit policy unchanged but with a bias toward easing its grip on the money supply in the future.

WASHINGTON -- Most market participants expect the Federal Reserve to announce another round of stimulus this week, but nearly six in 10 doubt it will lower unemployment. Those were the findings of a CNBC survey , released Wednesday, of 58 money managers, strategists and economists. The poll also found financial markets prefer Republican Mitt Romney over President Obama in November's election 53% to 18%. But if they had to bet, they'd put their money on the incumbent. Asked who they expected to win, 46% of respondents said Obama and 24% said Romney, with the rest unsure.

* Federal Reserve Board policymakers, meeting in May to weigh interest-rate strategy, felt there was little risk of an immediate uptick in inflation but feared for price stability over the longer haul. Minutes of their May 18 session showed they voted unanimously to keep rates steady but to adopt a bias toward raising rates in the future.

Greenspan Rejects Call for Transcripts: Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan rejected suggestions that the central bank release more detailed records of meetings of its policy-making arm. In a letter to House Banking Committee Chairman Henry Gonzalez (D-Tex.), Greenspan argued that releasing word-for-word transcripts or videotapes of the meetings would inhibit essential policy discussions.

James Bullard will take over as president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank on Tuesday, succeeding William Poole, who is retiring, the bank said. Bullard, 47, is vice president and deputy director of research for monetary analysis at the regional Fed bank and has been with its research department for more than 18 years. His appointment as Poole's successor was approved by the Fed's Board of Governors, the bank said. Like Poole, he will not have a vote on the Fed's policymaking Federal Open Market Committee this year.

Here is the text of the statement issued by the Federal Reserve's policymaking Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday: The Federal Open Market Committee voted to raise its target for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points [0.25 percentage point] to 5.75%. In a related action, the Board of Governors approved a 25-basis-point increase in the discount rate, to 5.25%.

Power is changing hands within the Federal Reserve System. William McDonough, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, plans to retire in July. His post is unique among the 12 Fed banks because New York has a permanent vote on the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee. President since 1993, McDonough has been the liaison with Wall Street and the most influential Fed executive after Chairman Alan Greenspan. As of mid-February, a search committee had yet to name a successor.

Wall Street sent stocks to new 17-month highs Wednesday on fresh signs of subdued inflation and expectations that interest rates would stay low. Investors were buoyed by assurances from the Federal Reserve that it would continue to keep in place some of the extraordinary measures used to pull the U.S. economy out of the deep recession. The Dow Jones index of 30 blue-chip stocks rose 47.69 points, or 0.4%, to 10,733.67, the highest since October 2008, to cap a string of small daily gains over the last seven sessions.

The economy improved in nine of the Federal Reserve's 12 regions in January and February while being hampered by snowstorms in the eastern U.S., the central bank said Wednesday. "In most cases the increases were modest," the Fed said in its Beige Book business survey, published two weeks before the Federal Open Market Committee meets to set monetary policy. Consumer spending increased in many regions, while commercial real estate and loan demand were "weak" and labor markets "soft," the Fed said.

The U.S. economy improved in 10 of the Federal Reserve's 12 districts last month, marking a broadening of the recovery, the central bank said today. "While economic activity remains at a low level, conditions have improved modestly further," the Fed said today in its Beige Book business survey, published two weeks before the Federal Open Market Committee meets to set monetary policy. The Philadelphia and Richmond Fed districts reported "mixed conditions." The beige book offers anecdotal evidence that will help central bankers weigh developments in an economy where unemployment is projected to remain above 10 percent through the first half of the year.

The Federal Reserve issued this statement Wednesday: Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in March indicates that the economy has continued to contract, though the pace of contraction appears to be somewhat slower. Household spending has shown signs of stabilizing but remains constrained by ongoing job losses, lower housing wealth, and tight credit.

James Bullard will take over as president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank on Tuesday, succeeding William Poole, who is retiring, the bank said. Bullard, 47, is vice president and deputy director of research for monetary analysis at the regional Fed bank and has been with its research department for more than 18 years. His appointment as Poole's successor was approved by the Fed's Board of Governors, the bank said. Like Poole, he will not have a vote on the Fed's policymaking Federal Open Market Committee this year.

Fed Was Ready to Cut Interest: A divided Federal Reserve policy-making panel agreed at a pre-election meeting on a policy leaning toward lower interest rates if the economy showed signs of ebbing. Members of the Federal Open Market Committee reviewed information suggesting that "economic activity was expanding at a subdued pace," minutes of the Oct. 6 meeting show.