WASHINGTON (MNI) – Market News International continues to solicit
questions to be posed to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Wednesday
afternoon and Fed officials Monday gave a few more details of how
Bernanke’s news conference will be handled.
Up to three questions in order of importance can be emailed to
questions@marketnews.com.
Fed officials Monday told reporters that the news conference is
expected to last about 45 minutes but may go longer. It will likely
begin, they said, with Bernanke delivering some brief comments.
The latest quarterly updates of the FOMC forecasts, which have been
published four times a year since late 2007, will be made public at the
beginning of the news conference, at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.
Now, instead of being appended to the FOMC minutes that are
published three weeks after every FOMC meeting, the forecasts will be
made public immediately after the FOMC meeting where they are
formulated, as the quarterly Bernanke news conference begins.
So for newswire readers, first Wednesday will come the headlines
from the statement of the Federal Open Market Committee at 12:30 p.m.
Wednesday that up to now had always been released around 2:14 p.m.
Then at 2:15 in the afternoon will come the headlines generated by
the updated FOMC forecasts.
Immediately following that will be headlines generated by
Bernanke’s opening remarks as the news conference gets under way,
followed by headlines on his answers to reporters’ questions.
The Federal Reserve will stream the news conference live on its Web
site and it is expected to be carried live on the various cable TV
financial news channels.
** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
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