The last of the initial round of Term Auction Facility offerings is today, with the results expected to be announced tomorrow. Does this strike anyone else as strange timing?
The FMOC is set to meet for the next two days, and everyone seems to expect that the Federal Reserve will announce a rate cut on Wednesday. (In our poll this morning, a cut of 25 basis points trails close behind a cut of 50 basis points). Should this rate cut make it hard to know where to bid in the auction? If the Fed cuts more than expected, it may wind up penalizing the banks with bid for the TAF. If it cuts less, it could wind up giving them an especially generous deal. This no doubt puts added pressure on the Fed to cut exactly where the market expects, at the fifty basis point level.
Posted by Ken Houghton, Jan 28, 2008 7:44PM
I see Carney continues to act under the delusion that TAF offerings are actually securities that would trade somewhere near what the Fed will pay for the them in the public market.
Sad, that.