This morning, the S&P 500 Index e-mini futures (ES-M3) are trading lower by 0.50 points to 1644.50 per contract. Almost every trader and investor is eagerly waiting to hear from Ben Bernanke today. The two day FOMC meeting will conclude at 2pm EST. This is when the central bank will release its interest rate policy statement for the United States. Currently, the fed funds rate (overnight lending rate to the large banks) is held at zero to a quarter percent, it has been this way since December 2008. This is the reason why you do not earn much interest on a savings account. Plus, the Federal Reserve is also buying $85 billion a month worth of mortgage backed securities and U.S. Treasuries. This is the main reason why interest rates are so low. Recently, the Federal Reserve has mentioned that they could begin to scale back its asset purchasing program known as QE-3. Should that happen the major stock indexes could come under selling pressure. In other words, everyone will be listening to every word that comes out of Chairman Bernanke's mouth.
Interest rate sensitive sectors are most likely to make a move after the Bernanke press conference. Some stocks that could be volatile after the FOMC announcement include Lennar Corp (LEN), Southern Company (SO), Duke Energy Corporation (DUK), Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NLY), and Vornado Realty Trust (VNO)
Below you may find the video.
Interest rate sensitive sectors are most likely to make a move after the Bernanke press conference. Some stocks that could be volatile after the FOMC announcement include Lennar Corp (LEN), Southern Company (SO), Duke Energy Corporation (DUK), Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NLY), and Vornado Realty Trust (VNO)
Below you may find the video.