<story><title>Federal Reserve slashes interest rates to zero</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/15/federal-reserve-slashes-interest-rates-zero-part-wide-ranging-emergency-intervention/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>aazaa</author><text>The Fed can, and will do much, much more. The signal here should be read as &amp;quot;whatever it takes to avoid a depression.&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;Among other steps, this is likely to mean:&lt;p&gt;- Negative-yielding long-term treasuries&lt;p&gt;- Direct purchase of stocks or ETFs, which would require congressional approval. Expect the discussions to start soon.&lt;p&gt;The steps already taken and the ones to be taken will create financial manipulation on a scale never before seen.&lt;p&gt;If the Fed loses this fight, game over.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>inferiorhuman</author><text>&lt;i&gt;If the Fed loses this fight, game over. &lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;This isn&amp;#x27;t the Fed&amp;#x27;s fight. Monetary policy won&amp;#x27;t fix this.</text></comment>
<story><title>Federal Reserve slashes interest rates to zero</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/15/federal-reserve-slashes-interest-rates-zero-part-wide-ranging-emergency-intervention/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>aazaa</author><text>The Fed can, and will do much, much more. The signal here should be read as &amp;quot;whatever it takes to avoid a depression.&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;Among other steps, this is likely to mean:&lt;p&gt;- Negative-yielding long-term treasuries&lt;p&gt;- Direct purchase of stocks or ETFs, which would require congressional approval. Expect the discussions to start soon.&lt;p&gt;The steps already taken and the ones to be taken will create financial manipulation on a scale never before seen.&lt;p&gt;If the Fed loses this fight, game over.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>dharma1</author><text>Direct purchases of shares will do little to alleviate this crisis.&lt;p&gt;The treasury purchases will fund the government to help industries which are badly affected from going under, companies with cash flow issues, and employees who need to take time off - which they already announced on Friday. I think $500b will be the beginning, will likely be much more needed</text></comment>