From Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke: The Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy . Excerpt on monetary policy: Policy Options for Further Easing … I will focus here on three that have been part of recent staff analyses and discussion at FOMC meetings: (1) conducting additional purchases of longer-term securities, (2) modifying…

From NY Fed President William Dudley’s commencement speech at New College of Florida: [T]he recovery is not likely to be as robust as we would like for several reasons. First, households are still in the process of deleveraging. The housing boom created paper wealth that households borrowed against. This pushed…

From the Financial Times: Bundestag backs eurozone rescue Germany’s lower house of parliament on Friday narrowly approved Berlin’s contribution to the European Union’s €750bn package of loan guarantees … The upper house, the Bundesrat, is expected to vote today and passage is expected. From Reuters: Spain to ‘probably’ call general…

From Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto: When the Small Stuff Is Anything But Small . A few excerpts: You know we have been through one of the most severe and longest recessions in our nation’s history. The recovery from the recession may also end up being one of the longest…

From San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen: The Outlook for the Economy and Monetary Policy . Excerpts: … I’m not at all convinced that a V-shaped recovery is in the cards. That fourth-quarter leap in GDP overstates the underlying momentum of the economy. Much of it was due to a…

Note: This is a composite index based on a number of economic releases. From the Chicago Fed: Index shows economic activity increased sharply in January The Chicago Fed National Activity Index was +0.02 in January, up from –0.58 in December. … The index’s three-month moving average, CFNAI-MA3, increased to –0.16…

The MBA reports 14.05 percent of mortgage loans were either one payment delinquent or in the foreclosure process in Q4 2009. This is a slight decrease from 14.11% (edit) in Q3 2009, and an increase from 13.5% in Q2 2009 (note: older data was revised). From the MBA: Delinquencies, Foreclosure…

First, Alanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart commented on the increase in the discount rate: How should today’s announcement be interpreted? I would not interpret this action as a tightening of monetary policy or even a sign that a tightening is imminent. Rather, this action should be viewed as a normalization…

From Bloomberg: Fed’s Bullard Says Asset-Purchase Adjustments Main Policy Issue (ht MrM) [St. Louis Fed President] James Bullard said the main challenge for U.S. policy makers will be to adjust the asset-purchase program … The Fed should retain flexibility by adopting a “state- contingent” policy that would allow for the…

Note: Here is a weekly summary and look ahead . Evelyn Nieves at HuffingtonPost has an update on Stockton, CA: Stockton, California Is Foreclosureville, USA, Has One Of The Worst Foreclosure Rates In The United Sates . A short excerpt: Stockton is a changed place. Whole neighborhoods have been decimated…