Originally published on March 23, 2020
The U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed) announced a barrage of policy measures this morning that collectively were both impressive and creative.
- The main asset purchase program (previously $700 billion of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities (MBS)) was upgraded to have no dollar limit - effectively a whatever-it-takes approach to ensuring market functioning and accommodative financial conditions - and broadened to now also include commercial mortgage-backed securities ((CMBS)).
- New purchase programs were announced of investment-grade corporate bonds in the primary and secondary market totaling $200 billion.
Two notes here:
First, the