FEDERAL RESERVE

Michael Yoshikami, president and chief investment officer of YCMNET Advisors in Walnut Creek, Calif. discusses what exactly QE is, why it may be needed and its potential impact.

Behind the scenes, China and the U.S., two major combatants, may already have already struck an agreement, said Douglas Borthwick, head trader of Connecticut-based Faros Trading.

The price of gold climbed to a new all-time high of $1,284 per ounce on Monday morning, suggesting that investors are very concerned about inflation that is apparently eroding the value of paper-currencies.

Tough government follow-through on a freshly minted U.S. financial law will be crucial to ensure no bank or firm grows so large that its collapse could jeopardize the entire economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is committed to keeping the price of money low until the economic recovery strengthens, but should not do more to boost growth without fiscal and regulatory policies that support businesses, a top Fed official said on Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve should only embark upon further monetary easing if faced with a dangerous downward price spiral, otherwise it risks undermining its credibility, a top Fed official said on Wednesday.

The outlook for the U.S. economy would have to deteriorate appreciably to spur fresh support from the Federal Reserve, according to minutes of the central bank's last policy meeting released on Tuesday.

Stock index futures were lower on Tuesday as investors awaited data on housing and consumer confidence to gauge the pace of the economy recovery.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn will take his central banking expertise to the Brookings Institution after he retires this week from four decades at the Fed, Brookings announced on Monday.

Most economists in a recent survey said they approved of the Federal Reserve's current course on monetary policy and see deflation as a risk for the short term.

The U.S. economy hit a soft patch in the second quarter but is not likely to fall back into recession and will pick up speed in the first half of 2011, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Friday.

Gold held steady near $1,235 an ounce in Europe on Friday as buyers took to the sidelines ahead of key U.S. economic data due later in the session and a hotly awaited speech from Federal Reserve chair Ben Benanke.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will have to address a number of pressing issues in a speech on Friday as investors search for more clarity on how close the U.S. central bank might be to another asset-buying spree to support the flagging recovery.

The Federal Reserve said on Monday bank lending standards eased somewhat over the last three months while demand for business and consumer loans was largely unchanged.

A gauge of manufacturing in New York State rose slightly in August after plunging the previous month as employment rebounded, the New York Federal Reserve said in a report on Monday.

The Federal Reserve is undertaking a dangerous gamble by keeping rates at near zero for so long, and it must start raising rates or risk damaging the nascent U.S. recovery, a top Federal Reserve official said on Friday.

The worried and hassled world of bullion investors heaved a sigh of relief following the release of US Federal Reserve report this week following which the gold prices showed signs of gains.

Gold fell in Europe on Wednesday as a 1 percent rise in the dollar outweighed potentially supportive news that the U.S. Federal Reserve is holding interest rates at record lows and extending quantitative easing.

Gold edged up on Wednesday on bargain hunting driven by a drop in stock markets and after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would keep interest rates low, but a lack of physical buying could cap gains. The dollar slipped toward a 15-year low against the yen after the Fed took steps to bolster the fragile U.S. recovery, while Asian stocks tracked losses in Wall Street and were also dragged down by tech sales.

Gold prices fell for a second day in Europe on Tuesday as the dollar strengthened, but prices did not stray far from $1,190 an ounce as traders awaited the outcome of a U.S. Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting.

The Federal Reserve's monetary policy committee gathered for a one-day meeting on Tuesday to consider, and perhaps adopt, additional measures to prop up a softening U.S. economic recovery.