This paper uses a dynamic factor model recently studied by Forni, Hallin, Lippi and Reichlin (2000) to analyze the response of 21 U.S. interest rates to news. Using daily data, we find that the news that affects interest rates daily can be summarized by two common factors. This finding is robust...

The current financial turmoil has generated considerable discussion of liquidity. Moreover, it has been widely reported that the Federal Reserve played a major role in supplying liquidity to financial markets during this distressed time. This article describes two ways in which the Fed has...

In this article, Daniel L. Thornton tests several hypotheses about the market's reactions to changes in the Federal Reserve's federal funds rate target. Thornton finds that short-term rates and long-term rates responded differently to funds rate target changes when target changes were...