Fed Cuts Key Interest Rate by .25%

Fed Cuts Key Interest Rate by .25%

Gold Reaches $800, first time since 1980

Dollar Falls to Record Low against Euro: $1.45

More-Than-Estimated: Economy Grows at 3.9% Pace in Summer...

Oil at US$95

Central bank officials are concluding the two-day policy meeting Wednesday, with a decision on interest rates expected at around 2:15 p.m. ET. Traders are betting that the Fed will lower the fed funds rate, a key short-term interest rate, by a quarter-percentage point to 4.50 percent.

The Fed cut rates last month by a half-percentage point as a means of loosening up the nearly frozen credit market, and to offset the risk of the housing market collapse sending the broad economy into recession.

It was the first rate cut in four years. At the time the bankers indicated that inflation fears had receded. Investors will be looking to see if they continue to hold that view, considering that oil prices are near all-time records.