Fed Officials to Weigh Another Rate Cut

WASHINGTON — The message from Ben Bernanke and his Federal Reserve colleagues is clear: The housing slump will drag on well into next year as credit problems linger. What’s not so apparent is how they’ll deal with the crisis, although another interest rate cut could come this week.
Since cutting a key rate last month for the first time in just over four years, Fed policymakers have pledged to "act as needed" to keep the economy growing and inflation in check. That broad pledge has left the door open to, among other things, another reduction to its key rate, holding that rate steady or taking more narrowly tailored action by slicing its lending rate to banks.
With the housing slump deepening, credit troubles persisting and Wall Street on edge, a growing number of investors and economists believe the Fed will lower its key rate.