Rookie St. Louis Fed president Bullard is on the wires saying he sees a downward revision to Q4 GDP and expects Q1 to be week as well. Like many, he hopes for a second-half rebound.
Bullard has distinguished himself as fairly hawkish early in his tenure. His expectations of further weakness would indicate Bernanke will have little opposition from the hinterlands in keeping rates super-low.
USD/JPY is consolidating in the low 91.50s after finding support at 91.30.
UPDATE: Bullard says rates will stay near zero for the foreseeable future and that past Fed pronouncement on keeping rates low for some time have been effective.
If the Fed’s balance sheet increase is permanent, it could cause inflation, though temporarily, it could be quite effective.
