Federal Reserve Board

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York granted a stay of the Fed's April 30 decision allowing subsidiaries of Citicorp, J. P. Morgan & Co. and Bankers Trust New York Corp. to underwrite and deal in certain securities. The decision by the three-judge appeals panel on an emergency motion by the Securities Industry Assn. delays the Fed's ruling until after a June 22 hearing.

  President Obama nominated a former Treasury official from the George H.W. Bush administration and a Harvard economist to fill two vacancies on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. The nominees, Jerome H. (Jay) Powell and Jeremy C. Stein, would serve 14-year terms on the board if they are confirmed by the Senate. "I am grateful that these individuals have agreed to serve their nation at this important time for our economy," Obama said Tuesday. "Their distinguished backgrounds and experience coupled with their impressive knowledge of economic and monetary policy make them tremendously qualified to serve in these important roles.

Fluor Corp. said Monday that it has elected Martha R. Seger, who recently announced her resignation from the Federal Reserve Board, to fill a vacancy on Fluor's board of directors. Seger replaces Caroline Leonetti Ahmanson, who retired at the end of last year from the 16-member board after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 72. She will join Fluor's board after she leaves her Fed post at an undetermined date and moves to Arizona.

As Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke appeared to gain enough backing for confirmation to a second term, the central bank offered a more upbeat assessment of the economy than it did last month but still affirmed a pledge to keep interest rates near zero for "an extended period." For the first time in a year, however, the Fed rate-setting panel's statement, issued at the end of a two-day meeting Wednesday, came with a dissenting vote, which could presage an earlier-than-expected move to raise rates.

Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Alice M. Rivlin, a staunch supporter of the central bank's strategy of letting the U.S. economy race forward even at some risk of inflation, unexpectedly announced Thursday that she will resign, saying that she wants to devote more time to untangling the finances of the city of Washington.

At the Federal Reserve, an institution that thrives on consensus-building and collegiality, Wayne Angell is the voice of dissent. The 61-year-old Kansas native can often be found in the minority on policy decisions ranging from bank mergers to expanded powers to interest rates. Frequently he is the only naysayer, and that suits him just fine. "It just doesn't make any sense to have a seven-member board of governors if everyone is to say the same thing," Angell says.

"Cut, cut, cut! No ifs, ands or buts." The author of that couplet, Robert Brusca, chief economist for Nikko Securities in New York, says the continuing fear and uncertainty about the global economy's future make it incumbent on the Federal Reserve Board to keep pushing interest rates downward.

The Federal Reserve Board signaled its commitment Tuesday to quash any evidence of inflation by raising its two benchmark interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point each, marking the central bank's sixth and largest increase of the year. The Federal Reserve took the aggressive move in the face of mounting criticism that it has already gone too far this year to restrain economic growth and job creation to curb the potential threat of rising prices.

President Clinton's nomination of economist Janet L. Yellin to the Federal Reserve Board was endorsed 18-1 Friday by the Senate Banking Committee.

The nomination of economist Alan Blinder to the Federal Reserve Board was approved, 15 to 0, Tuesday by the Senate Banking Committee.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's confirmation to a second four-year term, seemingly a slam dunk just a few weeks ago, now has become a true battle royal. Although Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California and Max Baucus of Montana voiced support for Bernanke on Monday, a Wall Street Journal tally showed that the Fed chief still was 20 votes shy of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster that could block his confirmation. A total of 43 senators have said they are undecided or haven't officially commented.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, whose reconfirmation has become surprisingly jeopardized, received a bipartisan boost Saturday from two key senators who reiterated their support for him and predicted he would win a second four-year term. Senate banking committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), who also serves on the committee, took the unusual step of issuing a weekend statement on Bernanke's behalf. The move came a day after two Democratic senators, Barbara Boxer of California and Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin, announced their opposition to Bernanke's renomination as head of the central bank, fueling speculation that his confirmation could be scuttled.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, apparently seeking to mollify critics as he awaits Senate confirmation on his reappointment, said Tuesday that he welcomed a government audit of the central bank's role in the intensely unpopular bailout of American International Group Inc. In a letter to the head of the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, Bernanke offered to "make available to the GAO all records and personnel...

The Federal Reserve's new report on U.S. economic activity in December and early January showed more signs of improvement across the nation. But if you're out of work in the Western states, the Fed's report, released Wednesday, won't provide any solace: Many employers in the region expect to do little if any hiring in 2010, even if sales rise. The Fed's so-called beige book report was relatively upbeat on the nation's economy as a whole, noting that 10 of the central bank's 12 geographic districts reported "some increased activity or improvement in conditions."

Federal Reserve policymakers, with a nod to the recent strengthening of the economy, still see a modest recovery this year -- one that will bring only a "slow improvement" in the nation's severe unemployment problem. "The weakness in labor markets continued to be an important concern to meeting participants, who generally expected unemployment to remain elevated for quite some time," according to a summary of the central bank's last policy meeting Dec. 15-16. The meeting minutes, released Wednesday with the usual three-week lag, suggest Fed members are in no hurry to raise short-term interest rates, which have been held at near zero since December 2008.

A Senate panel endorsed Ben S. Bernanke on Thursday for another term as Federal Reserve chairman, clearing the way for a confirmation vote on the Senate floor early next year. The Senate Banking Committee voted 16 to 7 to send to the full Senate Bernanke's nomination for a second four-year term when his current one ends Jan. 31. Although he appears likely to be confirmed, there could be more than a few "no" votes from members of both parties who are dissatisfied with the state of the economy and Bernanke's stewardship of the Fed. Only four of 10 Republicans voted in favor of Bernanke, who is a Republican first appointed by President Bush.

Who says history doesn't repeat? The Federal Reserve today is expected to raise the target for its benchmark short-term interest rate by half a percentage point--six years to the day of the first half-point hike in the Fed's last major credit-tightening round. But whether financial markets' reaction to the Fed's more aggressive stance in 1994 can tell us anything about what might occur this time around is questionable.