Financial bloggers are abuzz this morning after it was revealed that the FOMC “accidentally” emailed the FOMC Minutes to about 100 bank employees and others yesterday at 2:00 PM. The release was actually scheduled for today at 2:00 PM. After admitting the “error” the minutes were officially released early this morning so that the rest of us can catch up.

What did the minutes say? Not much that can tell us anything about direction, but there was “debate” around ending the $85 Billion per month purchase of Treasury bonds early, with several members seeing QE tapering or ending by year end. These hawkish thoughts were an excuse to push gold and silver prices lower today. It appears that HFT and trading algos read the early release as hawkish too. ZeroHedge shows how yesterday’s S&P 500 Ramp was faded late in the day, right after the early release email was sent out. Continue Reading …

The statement from the Federal Reserve has been released and it looks like Bernanke and company will maintain their current Monetary Policy: Overdrive. The Fed includes noises that the economy is improving, but as ZeroHedge observes, it isn’t improving enough to justify a halt to printing. Here are the FedLines, courtesy of ZeroHedge:

• FED SEES ECONOMY RETURNING TO MODERATE GROWTH AFTER Q4 PAUSE
• FED CONTINUES TO SEE DOWNSIDE RISKS TO ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
• FED MAINTAINS $85 BILLION MONTHLY PACE OF BOND BUYING
• FED SAYS FISCAL POLICY HAS BECOME SOMEWHAT MORE RESTRICTIVE

Per ZeroHedge, growth estimates for 2013 are down, along with unemployment. Huh? I guess that makes sense, if you are the Fed.

Watch the impact live on our Spot Gold Price and Spot Silver Price pages.

The Fed announced monetary policy at 12:30 PM EST today. For those who were paying attention and understand both Bernanke and the predicament we are in, there wasn’t much of a surprise. The Fed will boost QE with $45 Billion in monthly Treasury purchase and continue to buy mortgage bonds to the tune of $40 Billion / Month, for a total of $85 Billion. Of course, rates will continue to stay low as long as the Jobless numbers remain above 6 1/2% and inflation (the official, massaged government figure that is) remains at 2 1/2% or lower.

Here are the Fedlines courtesy of ZeroHedge:

*FED BOOSTS QE WITH $45 BILLION IN MONTHLY TREASURY PURCHASES
*FED TO KEEP BUYING MORTGAGE BONDS AT PACE OF $40 BLN PER MONTH
*FED SAYS MONTHLY PURCHASES TO TOTAL $85 BLN
*FED ADOPTS ECONOMIC THRESHOLDS FOR POLICY TIGHTENING
*FED: RATES TO STAY EXCEPTIONALLY LOW WITH JOBLESS ABOVE 6.5%
*FED: RATES TO STAY LOW WITH INFLATION SEEN AT 2.5% OR LESS

Best Price Silver Dealers  •  Best Price Gold Dealers

It really isn’t that difficult to figure out. Gold and Silver prices traded higher immediately after the release. Watch the Silver Spot Price and the Gold Spot Price for reaction to the Fed’s announcement, as well as upcoming reaction to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s jawboning later today at 2:15 PM EST.

8:20 PM EST Update: Looks like the metals have reversed post-Fed gains now. Another opportunity for stackers to accumulate more physical.

A Clear Explanation of the Federal Reserve’s QE to Infinity and What it Means: Last Thursday, the Fed satisfied the markets (at least for the moment) with its long awaited announcement that another round of QE will begin. Market reaction was swift and immediate, with gold and silver prices shooting higher. Indeed, gold and silver had already started their run weeks before the announcement because anybody with a calculator already knew the Fed had no choice but to pump further and that QE was certainly imminent. The only real debate was whether it could occur before the election or not. Just look at the impact of the announcement on the current gold spot price and silver spot price for a clue as to what the markets think.

Turd Furguson over at TFMetalsReport has provided a succinct and clear explanation of the Federal Reserve’s plans to engage in massive, non-stop and unending Quantitative Easing, and what it really means. First, he addresses each of the three primary actions that the Fed has stated it will take:

• The maintenance of extraordinarily low rates through 2015
• The continuation of Operation Twist to the tune of $45 Billion per Month through the end of this year
• The purchase of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to the tune of $40 Billion per Month with no no specific target amount or end date

Turd’s interpretation is interesting, and certainly seems to make sense. He believes that most in the media are dropping the ball with respect to what these actions mean. According to him, these Fed actions are not designed to support the mortgage market or help average Americans purchase homes, as we will be told by Fed apologists. Rather, the MBS purchases are designed to further support the primary dealers who hold these securities, the value of which are rather questionable. Continue Reading …