Fed could signal first rate hike since 2008

USA Today: Despite tumbling oil prices that are holding down inflation, several economists expect the Federal Reserve this week to signal that it's just months away from raising short-term interest rates for first-time since the 2008 financial crisis.

After a two-day meeting concludes Wednesday afternoon, the economists predict, Fed policymakers are likely to remove from its statement an assurance that its benchmark rate is likely to stay near zero "for a considerable time" after the end of a bond-buying stimulus. The bond purchases, which were designed to hold down long-term rates, ended in October.

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