Federal Reserve Cuts Stimulus

In a surprise move, the Federal Reserve announced it would scale back – or taper – it’s bond-buying efforts by $10 billion – from $85 billion per month to $75 billion per month. This is the last formal decision by the Federal Open Markets Committee before Ben Bernanke steps down. The central bank cited the strengthening fundamentals of the underlying economy. The Fed is reducing just one of its stimulative efforts: it will keep interest rates at very low levels so long as unemployment remains above 6.5 percent and inflation below 2 percent.