Wall Street pundits are predicting that the U.S. Federal Reserve will announce an end to its latest stimulus program this week in the belief the American economy is strong enough to stand on its own, the International Business Times reported yesterday. The Fed began buying certain assets in bulk in September 2008 as it dealt with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Shortly thereafter, it launched the first of three programs collectively known as quantitative easing (QE). The announcement could come Wednesday, when the Federal Open Market Committee concludes a two-day meeting that is also expected to focus on the federal funds interest rate, which has officially been in a range of between 0 percent and 0.25 percent since the end of 2008. Currently, the Fed buys $15 billion in assets monthly, down from $85 billion in December. The worry is that continuing the QE program could generate fresh bubbles in the stock market.
