WTF?



In between meetings out of the MF blue Thurs at 4:10pm discount rate increase??



At the end of the day, Ben is one of the most creative, brilliant, mensa, MIT geeks EVER



with balls of MF steel.    



Going back to the icewater decisions made in 48 hours with bear sterns, TARP, etc, etc.



This guy did more behind the scenes crap that saved the free world.    



This move is totally just to fukc with markets, traders etc. Its cool as hell.    day before expiration.    



Test the waters.   See how govies and equities respond.



If any markets get out of hand he can Jedi that it was technical crap.



If markets accept it orderly-bingo…he broke the ice to start the unwinding.



it is a freaking masterful stroke.



This guy make Al look like a minor leaguer



This guy understands markets.   Keeping peeps off guard.   so cool



Dude is a wild man.   











Dollar Touches Nine-Month High After Fed Raises Discount Rate

Share Business ExchangeTwitterFacebook| Email | Print | A A A By Yasuhiko Seki and Ron Harui



Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) – The dollar touched a nine-month high against the euro after the Federal Reserve raised the discount rate charged to banks for direct loans for the first time in more than three years.



The U.S. currency headed for a sixth week of gains against the 16-nation euro as the central bank took another step to withdraw from the unprecedented measures it used to halt the financial crisis. The Australian and New Zealand currencies fell for a third day on concern higher U.S. borrowing costs will weaken the yield advantage of the South Pacific nations’ assets.



“The Fed’s action came as a surprise and enhanced speculation that it will withdraw stimulus ahead of major peers,” said Tomokazu Matsufuji, a dealer in Tokyo at SBI Liquidity Market Co., a unit of financier SBI Holdings Inc. “This will drive the dollar higher.”



The dollar rose to $1.3489 per euro as of 11:38 a.m. in Tokyo from $1.3527 yesterday in New York, after climbing to $1.3444, the strongest since May 18. The greenback traded at 91.83 yen from 91.81 yen after earlier advancing to 92.09, the highest since Jan. 12.



Australia’s currency fell 0.3 percent to 89.13 U.S. cents, and New Zealand’s dollar dropped 0.3 percent to 69.60 cents.



The Fed increased the discount rate to 0.75 percent from 0.50 percent and said that effective March 18 “the typical maximum maturity for primary credit loans will be shortened to overnight.”



‘Further Normalization’



“These changes are intended as a further normalization of the Federal Reserve’s lending facilities,” the board said in a statement yesterday. “The modifications are not expected to lead to tighter financial conditions for households and businesses and do not signal any change in the outlook for the economy or for monetary policy.”



Gains in the dollar were tempered after Fed policy makers curbed speculation the central bank will raise interest rates this year.



Fed Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said the financial markets’ view that borrowing costs will increase later this year is “overblown.”



Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said yesterday’s decision to raise the discount rate doesn’t signal a tightening of policy.



“As the Fed made it clear, the discount rate hike won’t lead to an imminent rise in the federal fund rate,” said Daisuke Karakama, a market economist in Tokyo at Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd., Japan’s second-largest publicly traded lender. “Gains of the dollar in the wake of the discount rate increase will lose steam sooner rather than later.”