Lo mas probable es que el Fed siga comprando bonos de hipotecas en el 2013 debido a la turbulencia fiscal y a la debilidad de la economia. El Fes se reune el 11-12 de Diciembre. El plan de compra de bonos del Fes esta diseniado de manera que mantenga los intereses bajos asegurando creditos baratos, impulse al alza el precio de los activos como acciones y casas y estimule el gasto y la inversion.
El Fed no podra hacer nada para aliviar el shock que signficaria $500 billones de aumentos de impuestos y recorte de gastos que azotara a la economia si no se soluciona la crisis fiscal.
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Fed Likely to Keep Buying Bonds
By JON HILSENRATH
Federal Reserve officials are likely to continue buying long-term mortgage-backed and Treasury bonds in 2013 as they confront a slow-growing economy and threats of new turbulence and uncertainty related to fiscal policy.
Fed officials face several important decisions at their next policy meeting Dec. 11-12, the most pressing of which is what to do about those bond-buying programs, which are meant to drive down borrowing costs, boost the prices of assets like stocks and homes, and stimulate spending and investment.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said at his news conference in September that the central bank would review all its asset purchases at the end of the year, when one of the bond-buying programs expires.
Fed's Evans Sees Need for Continued Asset Purchases
Markets have anticipated the Fed will continue some combination of bond purchases next year. At their meeting next month, officials will still need to fully debate an extension of the bond programs and hear staff presentations on their impact. However, several officials have suggested in interviews and recent public statements that they support more bond-buying.
Fed officials said in their September statement they would keep buying long-term bonds until the job market improves substantially. The unemployment rate has fallen since July, but not enough for many policy makers.
"I am not prepared to say we are remotely close to substantial improvement on the employment front," Atlanta Fed president Dennis Lockhart said in a speech earlier this month. Mr. Bernanke echoed that view in a speech to the New York Economic Club last week, in which he said that unemployment is still "well above" where it would be in normal times.
Underscoring the restrained view at the Fed about the job market, the central bank said Wednesday in its pre-meeting 'Beige Book' report that its 12 regional banks reported "modest improvements in hiring activity" in recent weeks. There were some pockets of weakness in places like Richmond and Cleveland, and some large employers moved toward part-time employees or delayed hiring decisions until next year.
Since September the Fed has been buying $40 billion per month of mortgage-backed securities and looks set to continue that program. Officials believe the program has helped to push mortgage costs down and spur a recovering housing sector.
The more pressing issue is what to do with a $45 billion a month program known as Operation Twist, in which it is buying long-term Treasury securities and funding the purchases with sales of short-term Treasurys. That program ends in December and many officials want to keep buying long-term Treasurys next year as a complement to the mortgage purchases.
"A decision not to continue buying long-term Treasurys when Twist expires would be a surprise to markets and that would be counterproductive," John Williams, president of the San Francisco Fed, said in an interview last week. "It would push long-term rates up and cause financial conditions to be a little less supportive of growth."
The Fed has run down its stockpile of the short-term Treasurys to sell to fund long-term purchases. To keep buying the long-term bonds it would need to fund the purchases by creating new bank reserves, which in effect is printing money. That is how the Fed has funded previous Treasury purchase programs and it is how the Fed is funding its mortgage-bond buying. Though critics say this could be inflationary, many Fed officials believe they can manage the reserves without risking inflation.
It is possible that Fed officials might deviate in size from the $45 billion in monthly Treasury purchases—and $85 billion in all when mortgage securities are counted—but a large deviation from that amount looks unlikely. "The composition of the purchases, roughly 50-50 between (mortgages) and long-term Treasurys, is a good one," Mr. Williams said.
The central bank confronts a considerable amount of uncertainty about the economic outlook. If President Barack Obama and lawmakers fail to come to an agreement before year-end, roughly $500 billion in tax increases and spending cuts could kick in next year and throw the economy back into recession. Mr. Bernanke has said there is little the Fed could do to offset such a shock.
Reading economic data in the weeks ahead could be doubly hard, because of distortions caused by Hurricane Sandy earlier this month. Surging unemployment claims in recent weeks suggest they could take a toll on near-term measures of employment, growth and spending. The looming uncertainties could give the Fed added incentive to adopt a steady-as-she-goes approach on bond buying.
Fed officials want to see faster economic growth to sustain more improvement in the job market. Macroeconomic Advisers LLC, a forecasting firm, estimates the economy grew at a 2.9% pace in the third quarter, but has slowed to a pace of 1.4% in the fourth. The U.S. needs "a faster pace of growth than we have now," Charles Evans, president of the Chicago Fed, said in a speech this week.
Another issue for officials to consider at the December meeting is whether to alter their communication strategy. They have been debating for several months whether to state explicitly what unemployment rates or inflation rates would get them to raise short-term interest rates from their ultra-low levels. Such a move, they believe, could help reduce uncertainty about how long interest rates will remain low, thereby keeping long-term rates low.
Officials are making progress on this front. Earlier this month, vice chairwoman Janet Yellen said she supported such a move. Mr. Evans this week altered his proposal on the matter to bring himself closer to others' visions for such thresholds. Mr. Evans said the Fed should assure the public it will keep short-term interest rates near zero as long as the unemployment rate is above 6.5% and inflation is projected to remain below 2.5%.
If the Fed is going to adopt such a move, it would make sense to do it either at the December meeting or in March, when Mr. Bernanke will hold press conferences and be able to explain the central bank's thinking on the complicated subject. But there could be lingering disagreements on what numbers to adopt and how to articulate the plan.
Write to Jon Hilsenrath at
jon.hilsenrath@wsj.com