QUANTITATIVE EASING

The U.S. Federal Reserve's balance sheet expanded to a record size in the latest week, as the central bank continued to purchase bonds, Fed data released on Thursday showed.

The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank should complete its $600 billion bond-buying program, but should only extend it if inflation continues to fall, a top Fed official said on Thursday.

The European Central Bank will raise interest rates next month, according to a firm majority of economists polled by Reuters after its president said the bank will exercise strong vigilance over inflation.

Bill Gross of PIMCO is concerned for the US government. To him, the big question is who will buy US Treasuries (i.e. lend to the US government) once the Federal Reserve stops QE2.

“When inflation gets started, you don't particularly notice it,” said billionaire investor Warren Buffett on CNBC. “It's like a guy jumping out of a 50-story building. The first 45 stories he doesn't really notice a lot of changes in his circumstances. But eventually, [he hits] the ground.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said both rounds of quantitative easing (QE1 and QE2) are working well, in the question and answer session of his testimony to Congress.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke remains unconcerned about inflation - perhaps rightly so - at a testimony in front of US lawmakers on Tuesday.

“We have seen increased evidence that a self-sustaining recovery in consumer and business spending may be taking hold,” said Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in a testimony to Congress.

U.S. fund managers increased their exposure to alternatives in February as inflationary pressures intensified and slightly lowered their allocations in domestic equities, a Reuters poll showed on Monday.

On Wall Street they wonder: Was that it? Is the pullback over?

On Wall Street they wonder: Was that it? Is the pullback over?

The inflation debate is raging in the UK among policy makers. Meanwhile, the only inflation hawk and dissenting voter on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), Thomas Hoenig, is no longer a voting member this year.

A senior U.S. Federal Reserve official said on Thursday he thinks it is time to consider tapering off or scaling back a $600 billion bond-buying program because of an improved economic outlook.

You can't really blame financial hacks for getting things so wrong, so often. Because every financial decision you now make is a speculation on interest rates. And so pretty much every story a financial journalist might choose to write must start and end with the same speculation, built on the inaction of each monthly central-bank vote.

Criticism of China's exchange-rate policy continues throughout the US. This column argues that the US is in fact the exchange rate manipulator, due to its ongoing quantitative easing. What the US needs to do for a sustainable turnaround is to learn from other successful economies like China and Germany - not de-rail them.

The U.S. economy may not need further help from the Federal Reserve when its $600 billion stimulus plan runs out in June, but that decision will hinge on the path of the economy, a top Fed official said on Wednesday.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's recent bond purchases have had a helpful effect on financial conditions, with the rise in long-term interest rates largely due to economic optimism, a senior Fed official said on Wednesday.

Economists took their turns encouraging and attacking the policies of money supply managers of the U.S. Federal Reserve System on Wednesday, as the nation faces 9 percent unemployment, slow economic growth and rising federal debt and deficits.

Gold was little changed on Wednesday as the market was underpinned by a dollar drop and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comment that he had no plans to scrap a massive bond-buying program, indicating interest rates will not rise any time soon.

World stocks fell from this week's 29-month high on Wednesday as China's interest rate rise prompted investors to book profits, while general optimism over global growth sent 10-year U.S. bond yields to nine-month highs.

Two top Federal Reserve officials said on Tuesday they expect the central bank's $600 billion bond purchase program to run its full course, while a third said the central bank should seriously consider scaling it back.