The Fed Minutes were released yesterday and the tapering continues!

The Fed Minutes were released yesterday and the tapering continues! Certain policy makers expressed concern yesterday that it’s time to raise rates before the mid-year since we are approaching the 6.5% unemployment rate threshold. On the other hand, doves feel it’s  too soon to raise rates as lingering effects of the financial crisis remain. The overall sentiment for the U.S. economy is positive as officials blame weak economic data on bad weather. The reduction program will continue as seen appropriate “until the outlook for the labor market has improved substantially in a context of price stability.”  The Fed reiterated that the cut back in asset purchases is not on a pre-set schedule and the pace of tapering is contingent upon labor market conditions and inflation meeting its long term objectives. The precious metals complex didn’t take the news so well and prices dropped instantaneously. Tapering is unfavorable for gold and so are talks about raising rates as investors would prefer to put their money into interest bearing assets. The Core CPI (MoM) is .1% as expected and Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending 2/15 is 336,000 vs. the forecast of 335,000. Have a great day.