By Evelina M. Tainer, Chief Economist, Econoday
1/18/02

This week was laden with speeches by Fed governors and district bank presidents. Though they warned that short-terms risks must be monitored, the officials generally pointed to signs of economic stabilization and a bottoming out. It seems that markets read too much pessimism in the closely watched comments from Chairman Greenspan, who never indicated that the economy was so weak that it absolutely required further rate cuts. The heavy load of Fedspeak did indeed roil the markets, but it's hard to tell whether bond and equity markets actually moved in the Fed's desired direction. Not surprisingly for this stage of the business cycle, economic indicators offered a mixed picture of current conditions.