The latest Fed minutes, a recap of the December 2011 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, revealed that the U.S. central bank is making several noteworthy changes to the manner in which it communicates its monetary policies decisions to the general public.
One change involves “incorporating information about participants’ projections of appropriate future monetary policy into the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP), which the FOMC releases four times each year,” according to the Fed minutes. This process will involve each official publishing his/her individual projections for the Fed funds rate, which could provide investors with additional clues for when the Fed may begin to tighten monetary policy.
Along with the communication changes, the Ben Bernanke-led Federal Reserve lowered its “medium-term” projection for real GDP growth, “primarily reflecting revisions to the staff’s view regarding developments in Europe and their implications for the U.S. economy.”
Additional highlights from the Fed minutes included:
Labor market conditions improved some in recent months, but the unemployment rate remained elevated despite a noticeable drop in November.
A number of members indicated that current and prospective economic conditions could well warrant additional policy accommodation, but they believed that any additional actions would be more effective if accompanied by enhanced communication about the Committee’s longer-run economic goals and policy framework. A few others continued to judge that maintaining the current degree of policy accommodation beyond the near term would likely be inappropriate given their outlook for economic activity and inflation, or questioned the efficacy of additional monetary policy actions in light of the nonmonetary headwinds restraining the recovery. For this meeting, almost all members were willing to support maintaining the existing policy stance while emphasizing the importance of carefully monitoring economic developments given the uncertainties and risks attending the outlook. One member preferred to undertake additional accommodation at this meeting and dissented from the policy decision.
Financial markets showed a muted reaction to the Fed minutes, with both gold and the broader equity markets maintaining the large majority of their gains in afternoon trading. The U.S. dollar remained considerably lower against a basket of foreign currencies, while interest rates extended their move higher.
The Fed minutes can be viewed in their entirety below:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/fomcminutes20111213.htm
Mines Mangement Achieves “Significant Milestone” in Third Quarter
- The U.S. Forest Service and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality continued their environmental review of the Montanore Project and the responses to comments received from the public and from the Environmental Protection Agency and issued the Supplemental Draft EIS in late September 2011
- Mines Management continued meetings with federal and state agencies, Montana legislators, local Lincoln County Commissioners, Libby City officials, business leaders and community members and kept them informed of the project status
- Cash and investment position remained strong at $20.5 million as of September 30, 2011
- The Company`s exploration and corporate development team continued to examine and evaluate additional opportunities in North America and Latin America