this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt tom: good evening, and thanks for joining us. susie gharib is off tonight; i m joined by suzanne pratt. stocks posted modest gains today, but trading volume was light. in fact, this will most likely be one of the lowest volume days of the year. tom, traders said they didn t want to buy or sell until they see what the federal reserve does tomorrow. that s when policymakers will meet to review the state of the economy. tom: with few new jobs being created and credit still tight, scott gurvey reports there are many opinions, but little agreement, on what the fed will or won t do. reporter: what s a fed to do? from wall street. to main street. we are looking to the central bank to get us out of the worst recession since the great depression. but, having pushed short-term interest rates down to almost nothing, the fed has exhausted the best weapon
this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt tom: good evening everyone, and thanks for joining us. susie gharib is off tonight. i m joined by suzanne pratt. suzanne, federal reserve policymakers said today what everyone s been feeling the u.s. economic recovery has slowed down. tom, the fed kept interest rates essentially at zerio, and now it s taking a new tack to prime the economic pump. tom: the fed plans to take the money it earns on its portfolio of mortgage-backed securities and use it to buy u.s. treasury bills. scott gurvey explains the move. the fed is on a roll, or at least that is the policy. with main street in a gloomy mood, the central bank announced today it will roll over its portfolio of securities. that will keep its balance sheet at record levels, but it will prevent the tightening impact shrinking the portfolio would have on the economy. that doesn t hurt. but econ
this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt tom: good evening, and thanks for joining us. susie gharib is off tonight; i m joined by suzanne pratt. stocks posted modest gains today, but trading volume was light. in fact, this will most likely be one of the lowest volume days of the year. tom, traders said they didn t want to buy or sell until they see what the federal reserve does tomorrow. that s when policymakers will meet to review the state of the economy. tom: with few new jobs being created and credit still tight, scott gurvey reports there are many opinions, but little agreement, on what the fed will or won t do. reporter: what s a fed to do? from wall street. to main street. we are looking to the central bank to get us out of the worst recession since the great depression. but, having pushed short-term interest rates down to almost nothing, the fed has exhausted the best weapon
this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt tom: good evening, and thanks for joining us. susie gharib is off tonight; i m joined by suzanne pratt. stocks posted modest gains today, but trading volume was light. in fact, this will most likely be one of the lowest volume days of the year. tom, traders said they didn t want to buy or sell until they see what the federal reserve does tomorrow. that s when policymakers will meet to review the state of the economy. tom: with few new jobs being created and credit still tight, scott gurvey reports there are many opinions, but little agreement, on what the fed will or won t do. reporter: what s a fed to do? from wall street. to main street. we are looking to the central bank to get us out of the worst recession since the great depression. but, having pushed short-term interest rates down to almost nothing, the fed has exhausted the best weapon
this program is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by wpbt tom: good evening, and thanks for joining us. susie gharib is off tonight; i m joined by suzanne pratt. stocks posted modest gains today, but trading volume was light. in fact, this will most likely be one of the lowest volume days of the year. tom, traders said they didn t want to buy or sell until they see what the federal reserve does tomorrow. that s when policymakers will meet to review the state of the economy. tom: with few new jobs being created and credit still tight, scott gurvey reports there are many opinions, but little agreement, on what the fed will or won t do. reporter: what s a fed to do? from wall street. to main street. we are looking to the central bank to get us out of the worst recession since the great depression. but, having pushed short-term interest rates down to almost nothing, the fed has exhausted the best weapon