The Fed's Three Levers

How Language, Discount Rates, and Balance Sheet Operations Actually Move Stock Prices The Federal Reserve has three instruments that move equity markets. Only one gets reported. The rate decision — the number announced after each Federal Open Market Committee meeting — is the one that appears in headlines. It is also the one that does the least real-time work. By the time the Fed announces a rate change, institutional markets have already priced it. What moves prices is what comes before the dec