Fed

Looky, Looky ... who got caught with a cookie

I tried to add something profound .....but you know ... this shit writes itself.

Stephen Friedman, the chairman of the New York Federal Reserve Board, abruptly resigned on Thursday, days after questions arose about his ties to Goldman Sachs.

Mr. Friedman was chairman of the New York Fed at the same time he was a member of Goldman’s board. He also had a substantial stake in the firm as the Fed was crafting a solution to keep Wall Street banks afloat. Denis M. Hughes, deputy chair of the board, will take over as the interim chairman, the New York Fed said in a statement. (Read Mr. Friedman’s letter after the jump.)

Because the New York Fed approved a request by Goldman to become a bank holding company, the chairman’s involvement in Goldman was a violation of Fed policy, The Wall Street Journal said in an article earlier this week.

Fed Setting Up Credit Default Swap (CDS) Auction Market

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Shocking, true. Here Comes The Light. Although the details are not known, how much transparency and regulation will exist, the actual Fed meeting is tomorrow. CNBC is reporting that the Fed is setting up a credit default swap auction.

Officials at the Federal Reserve plan to meet with top executives from two commodities exchanges in an effort to create a new marketplace for credit default swaps, one of the most important, controversial and opaque securities traded on the Wall Street, CNBC has learned.

The meeting, scheduled to be held as early as Tuesday of this week at the headquarters of the New York Fed, is expected to clear the way for the creation of a new clearing house, or exchange, where CDSs can be traded with more transparency and with a degree of government oversight.

Cut, Cut, Cut!

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Bloomberg
reports that the Fed over the weekend cut the discount rate 25 pts but also on Tuesday might cut rates as much as 1 pt!

The Fed lowered the discount rate to 3.25 percent from 3.5 percent, narrowing the spread with the federal funds rate to a quarter point from a half point. From tomorrow, primary dealers will be able to borrow at the rate under a new lending facility, to be in place for at least six months, the Fed said.

The actions are ``designed to bolster market liquidity and promote orderly market functioning,'' the Fed said. ``Liquid, well-functioning markets are essential for the promotion of economic growth.''